The Student Room Group

Government planning major changes to universities!

The government are, the Guardian reports, planning to:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jun/26/ministers-may-move-university-applications-to-after-a-level-results

* Change admissions so that they take place in 5 weeks after A level results are in. This would, they believe, counter bias against BAME students in school forecasts and align the UK more with other countries.

* Start the university year in January. And a longer summer break.

* Close down many humanities courses as they are not productive for the economy and therefore considered poor value.

* Move forward exam results to July.

Pretty major changes.

Personally I support the idea of only applying once the results are in. It's always been a disadvantage for the state sector and for working class and BAME students in particular in obtaining access to good universities.

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LOnger summer break? In the middle of the academic year?
I hope they keep the start at September. Long summer break should stay between years, not in the middle of them
Reply 2
Original post by Fullofsurprises
* Start the university year in January. And a longer summer break.

That's....odd.
Original post by Drewski
That's....odd.

Agreed.
Original post by Drewski
That's....odd.

I wonder if it's part of a plan they will shortly announce that they are going to dump September re-opening and restart in Jan 2021.
Original post by Laurence010401
LOnger summer break? In the middle of the academic year?
I hope they keep the start at September. Long summer break should stay between years, not in the middle of them

They are apparently talking about a summer holiday that lasts from early Aug into Oct.
I still don't know why they cancelled AS. There's an awful lot of non-policy policy making in the education sector.
So what are A-level students meant to do in the gap between A-Levels in the Summer and university starting in January? Also, who has a long summer holiday in the middle of an academic year?
Original post by Fullofsurprises
They are apparently talking about a summer holiday that lasts from early Aug into Oct.


we all want a summer holiday at that time of year....
And we want to spend it revising for November/December end of year exams.....
Original post by Fullofsurprises
.

* Close down many humanities courses as they are not productive for the economy and therefore considered poor value.
.


Yikes. Rip for all students who want to do humanities subject.
Original post by Fullofsurprises
I wonder if it's part of a plan they will shortly announce that they are going to dump September re-opening and restart in Jan 2021.

Wouldn’t surprise me. And it would have a knock on domino effect no doubt if they did this
An August to January gap is a joke.
Most students finish A level exams in June or July. That’s 6 month off
Original post by Kubsyy
Yikes. Rip for all students who want to do humanities subject.

Quite a few universities cross-subsidise humanities courses from the revenue derived from foreign students attending strongly vocational technical subjects. Given that income from the latter looks highly questionable at the moment, the government suddenly have more of a whip hand to demand courses be removed. It won't affect the most elite universities (or at least, not so much) but it will be the death knell for arts & humanities in the metropolitans.
Applying after results sounds great. Many other countries do it, and if the system is designed correctly, the turn around times are manageable for universities.

January would be really wrong though and put us at odds with most of the rest of the world who still work on the normal academic year. It would make international programs a pain, and puts universities out of sync with schools. I don't see the value of it at all.
Original post by Kubsyy
Yikes. Rip for all students who want to do humanities subject.


Where in the article does it say this? I cannot find it anywhere.
Original post by Mayataylor
Where in the article does it say this? I cannot find it anywhere.

The article says:
A number of vice-chancellors also fear that the government wants to clamp down on student numbers taking humanities courses, especially those with a track record of low graduate earnings.

It looks like vice-chancellors are concerned about the government potentially reducing humanities students, but there's been no confirmation yet?
Original post by Mayataylor
Where in the article does it say this? I cannot find it anywhere.

"A number of vice-chancellors also fear that the government wants to clamp down on student numbers taking humanities courses, especially those with a track record of low graduate earnings."
Reply 17
Original post by Fullofsurprises
The government are, the Guardian reports, planning to:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jun/26/ministers-may-move-university-applications-to-after-a-level-results

* Change admissions so that they take place in 5 weeks after A level results are in. This would, they believe, counter bias against BAME students in school forecasts and align the UK more with other countries.

* Start the university year in January. And a longer summer break.

* Close down many humanities courses as they are not productive for the economy and therefore considered poor value.

* Move forward exam results to July.

Pretty major changes.

Personally I support the idea of only applying once the results are in. It's always been a disadvantage for the state sector and for working class and BAME students in particular in obtaining access to good universities.


How would universities deal with all of the courses that require interviews in that amount of time whilst also preparing for the new academic year? I don't think it's feasible.
Original post by ebrutt
How would universities deal with all of the courses that require interviews in that amount of time whilst also preparing for the new academic year? I don't think it's feasible.

Gawd knows. :rolleyes:

This sounds like a rushed policy that's being wheeled out because they can't figure out how to restart the unis this Autumn.
Original post by Fullofsurprises
The government are, the Guardian reports, planning to:
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jun/26/ministers-may-move-university-applications-to-after-a-level-results

* Change admissions so that they take place in 5 weeks after A level results are in. This would, they believe, counter bias against BAME students in school forecasts and align the UK more with other countries.

* Start the university year in January. And a longer summer break.

* Close down many humanities courses as they are not productive for the economy and therefore considered poor value.

* Move forward exam results to July.

Pretty major changes.

Personally I support the idea of only applying once the results are in. It's always been a disadvantage for the state sector and for working class and BAME students in particular in obtaining access to good universities.


This isn’t starting this year right? Like it won’t affect people applying to uni this year for 2021 entry? 🙃

(also - really hope history isn’t one of the humanities subjects they scrap haha. I mean I doubt it as employers tend to love it but idk :/)
(edited 3 years ago)

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