Populist Labour swells HE ranks

The government has sounded the "death knell" for elitism in higher education with plans to expand participation, partly through a new two-year associate degree.

Ministers and the higher education sector have welcomed prime minister Tony Blair's Labour Party conference announcement that half the population should have benefited from higher education by age 30. Currently 43 per cent of today's 18-year-olds are expected to have had some higher education.

Key to achieving the target could be the introduction of two-year sub-degree courses with a strong vocational content. Such associate degrees sound similar to Higher National Diplomas and Certificates and may replace them. The government is examining associate degrees as part of a review of higher education qualifications.

Malcolm Wicks, the new minister for lifelong learning, welcomed Mr Blair's announcement. "Although we know that participation rates have been moving in the right direction, I think once we start talking about giving half of all young adults the chance of higher education then we are sounding the death knell for elitism in higher education," he said.

Most of the 50 per cent would study at degree level. But Mr Wicks said: "As you know, we are interested in associate degrees with the emphasis on the vocational." He said the government would be looking at how and where the expansion should take place, and that it would look at existing universities and higher education colleges first, as many were keen to expand.

Mr Wicks added: "How we achieve the target has implications for the whole education system."

Education secretary David Blunkett said the expansion would not be at the expense of quality. The government was determined to maintain high standards of entry and much of the expansion would be delivered through part-time courses for people already in work, he said.

The Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals welcomed the expansion plans. Baroness Warwick, chief executive of the CVCP, said: "Universities will be delighted to hear such a firm commitment from the prime minister. It is vital that many more people, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds, are given the opportunity to take up places in higher education."

Sir Brian Fender, chief executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England, said: "The important question is whether two-year qualifications are an end in themselves or a stepping stone to higher education." He added that he would like to see universities develop a three-month course to be taught over the summer at the end of the second year for students wanting to progress into the third year of a degree programme.

Providing for totally unqualified young people "must be top of our agenda", higher education minister Baroness Blackstone told a fringe meeting on skills in Bournemouth. She said extra help was also needed to keep 14 to 16-year-olds in education and to support post-16 students taking full or part-time training courses. Education maintenance allowances, now being piloted, would be rolled out nationally if successful.

Higher education was not, she said, the main problem. "However, we also have to have a university system more sensitive to the needs of the economy and better at reaching out to young people and adults who find it hard to go on to qualifications at level 4."

Baroness Blackstone also hinted that universities and colleges might be pleased with the money they receive through the third-year settlement of the comprehensive spending review. An announcement is due soon.