King’s Speech ‘poor quality degrees’ reference ‘beyond belief’

Former adviser to Tory ministers criticises government for asking monarch to ‘speak negatively of national asset’

十一月 7, 2023
Windsor, UK - November 28th 2021 A Royal Crown Christmas decoration in the town centre of Windsor, with Windsor Castle in the background, in Berkshire, UK.
Source: iStock

The Westminster government’s reference to “poor quality university degrees” in the King’s Speech was “beyond belief”, according to a former adviser to Conservative universities ministers.

The King’s Speech – a set-piece occasion laying out the government’s legislative agenda for the coming Parliament, read by the monarch to MPs and peers – said “proposals will be implemented to reduce the number of young people studying poor quality university degrees and increase the number undertaking high-quality apprenticeships”.

That was a reference to plans previously announced by Rishi Sunak, the prime minister, to crack down on “rip-off degrees”, via student number controls on courses falling below the Office for Students’ controversial quality thresholds.

Diana Beech, chief executive of London Higher and a former policy adviser to Conservative universities ministers, said: “On an occasion when the UK pulls out all the stops to impress the world with tradition and pageantry, it is beyond belief that the UK government would even contemplate asking His Majesty the King to speak negatively of the national asset that is our world-leading higher education and research sector.

“In its mission to appeal to domestic voters, the government appears to have forgotten that the world is watching, and the King’s reference to supposed ‘poor quality university degrees’ will not do ‘Global Britain’ any favours when the brightest and best from across the world choose to take their talents elsewhere.”

In announcing the student numbers cap plan in July, the Westminster government said it would ask the OfS “to limit the number of students universities can recruit onto courses that are failing to deliver good outcomes”.

The King’s Speech used a different phrasing in its reference to an intention to “reduce” the number of students taking “poor quality university degrees”.

Dr Beech said: “The ominous wording around the plan ‘to reduce the number of young people’ studying these degrees also reveals we are still live to the risk of the reimposition of some form of student number controls, which could block opportunity from those who can benefit from it the most.”

Joe Marshall, chief executive of the National Centre for Universities and Business, echoed Dr Beech’s concern.

“It’s concerning that today’s King’s Speech referenced cutting down ‘poor quality university degrees’,” Dr Marshall said. “At a time of serious and widespread economic uncertainty, we should be celebrating the fact that our nation’s universities generate the skilled and versatile workforce that businesses require, contributing to the nation’s recovery in the post-pandemic era.

“Having a degree is typically associated with higher wages, increasing opportunity and driving productivity.

“More worrying still is that the type of course selected for a cap is more likely to be one with a high proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds. This punishes universities that push boundaries to widen social mobility.”

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com

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Reader's comments (4)

I am sick of the sector pretending that poor quality degrees are not a thing, and that any government criticism is both lies and the blocking of life chances. Every academic in the country could name at least one course in their field that they would actively discourage family and friends from taking.
I agree with Skiddawinthebackground. The sector is in no way a homogenous provider of genuine high quality education. For the less discerning and gullible trying to find a degree that suits ability and ambition is akin to entering a hall of mirrors. This Barnum and Bailey world of HE has it attendant mongers skilled in the hawkers arts of dissembly and distraction. I weep when I see how the sector has become the province of shameless hucksters and mountebanks.
"... when the brightest and best from across the world choose to take their talents elsewhere.” If they choose to take them to Australia they had better pay attention to 'caveat emptor'.
Depends on how you define a poor quality degree - is it one that is simply on the list of subjects this government does not want you to study ? Learning is about so much more than employability and post graduation salary is a terrible metric to use for measuring success. Students deserve value for money, but let them be the judge of whether their course lived up to their expectations. The HE system should not be about churning out homogenous workers.