Source: Alamy

Shaping up for the workplace: academic degrees are ¡®about acquiring in-depth knowledge, not about employability¡¯

Universities are trying to fit a ¡°square plug into a round hole¡± by attempting to ¡°tack on¡± employability skills to a three-year academic degree, a college representative has said.

Nick Davy, higher education policy manager at the Association of Colleges (AoC), argued that England instead needed a better developed vocational higher education system, including a growth in higher apprenticeships.

Speaking to Times Higher Education at the AoC¡¯s annual conference in Birmingham on 21 November, Mr Davy said that one of the ¡°core principles¡± of traditional universities was that they were not about preparing students for work, except in some professions and academic research.

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Employability was not part of the ¡°culture¡± of older universities, which were ¡°trying to tack something on to a discipline-led academic degree that doesn¡¯t really work¡±.

He stressed that this was not a criticism of universities, which played an ¡°absolutely critical part in our society and higher education system¡±, nor was it to suggest that academic, three-year degrees did not teach skills that were useful in the workplace.

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However, he added that ¡°these degrees are not about employability but acquiring an in-depth knowledge of a subject discipline. You can¡¯t fit a square plug into a round hole.¡±

Colleges, on the other hand, had continued teaching vocational higher education qualifications that had been dropped by many former polytechnics when they became universities in 1992, he said.

Higher tuition fees and a tougher job market since the financial crisis have brought universities under pressure to ensure their students win jobs after graduation.

In a seminar on graduate employability earlier this month, David Winter, head of the careers consultancy C2, which is owned by the University of London, said that the sector was currently ¡°throwing money¡± at student work placements, internships and skills awards.

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Mr Davy estimated that colleges had increased their number of higher education students by about 4,000 in 2012-13 ¨C a small rise, given that in 2009-10 an estimated 177,000 higher education students were studying in further education colleges.

Colleges had gained about 7,500 higher education places from the government¡¯s ¡°margin¡± system, which in 2012-13 reallocated 20,000 places to providers with lower fees.

But they had simultaneously lost 2,000-3,000 students owing to places being withdrawn by partner universities, he explained.

Mr Davy said there was a demand from students for more flexible and diverse higher education, something colleges could satisfy.

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But he acknowledged it was a ¡°fair question¡± why colleges, which generally charge lower tuition fees than universities, had not attracted more students since fees had risen in 2012-13.

¡°Is it because there¡¯s no demand for our product, or is it because of barriers such as validation times [for degree-awarding powers] or relationships with awarding bodies?¡± he asked.

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So far, only three further education colleges have won foundation degree-awarding powers: Newcastle College and New College, Durham, which were the first colleges to gain the powers in 2011; and Grimsby Institute, which won them this year.

david.matthews@tsleducation.com