UK: No government U-turn on ELQs

The British government will press ahead with its controversial plans to cut funding from students wanting to enrol in courses that offer equivalent or lower qualifications (ELQs) than those they already have. This is despite fierce opposition from leading academics, unions and the adult education lobby. The Open University will be particularly hard hit as it will lose more than £30 million ($60million) from its teaching grant.

John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, announced the changes last September and asked the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) to carry out consultations. An avalanche of protests followed, with heated debates in both Houses of Parliament, a 17,500-strong petition to Downing Street and a call from the OU for a decision to be delayed.

Meantime, protesters are waiting for a report by a Commons' select committee which took evidence on the ELQ issue in mid January. Out of 478 submissions, 470 were firmly against the policy.

The Education Secretary decided to shift funding from mainly mature graduates to undergraduates in line with the government's drive to recruit an extra 20,000 school leavers into higher education, and to encourage employers to pay for ELQ students.

OU Vice-Chancellor, Professor Brenda Gourley, said she noted the outcome of the consultation with "a combination of frustration and disappointment." She thought that the fundamental principle of the changes for ELQ students was worrying.

"It is a very misguided policy. It is not just about the OU. We all know how quickly knowledge becomes obsolete, so people need to update their subjects, or retrain for career changes. And it won't be in the financial interests of higher education institutions to pursue these kinds of students. I can't believe the government is making this decision – it is a big risk for such a small amount of money."

Gourley said the decision also went against the recent recommendations of a high-powered inquiry by Lord Leitch which produced a report called Prosperity for all in the Global Economy: World Class Skills.

Leitch concluded that Britain needed another four million people with higher level qualifications by 2020, "and a system that reaches out beyond school leavers doing traditional degrees to more flexible courses designed and co-funded by employers". Yet only 13% of ELQ students at the OU received any contributions from employers, Gourley said.

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the University and College Union, said the policy would create confusion and instability.

"We are baffled by the suggestion that all subjects exempted from the funding withdrawal will be reviewed on an annual basis," Hunt said.

"How is anyone supposed to plan courses with the knowledge that all their students could go because some other subject has argued a stronger case for being exempted? I have yet to meet anyone who is convinced by the arguments in favour of removing ELQ funding...It is time for the government to think again on this flawed policy."