Six months from now, students and engineering departments will be living the day-to-day reality of the government’s controversial reforms of higher education. Students walking through the doors of engineering lecture theatres for the first time will be paying up to £9,000 a year for a degree, and staff will be working with a complex and as yet undetermined funding programme.
Under the reforms, set out in a government white paper published last July, central funding for universities has been slashed and tuition fees have trebled to pick up part of the shortfall. With the cost of getting a degree soaring, the effects on engineering departments, their students and the wider economy remain to be seen. Earlier this year, the first piece of evidence as to how the system will fare as a result of the changes came to light. The university admissions service UCAS published its application statistics for the coming academic year.
Across the board, applications are down 8% but engineering has fared well, with a drop of just 1.3%. Last year universities saw a bumper year, including in engineering, as many students rushed to apply ahead of the reforms. But even with a small drop in applicants this year compared to last there are still 7,000 more applicants to study engineering today than there were two years ago.
Professor Helen Atkinson, president of the Engineering Professors’ Council and head of the materials and mechanical engineering group at the University of Leicester, is encouraged by the figures. “I think that students are aware of the fact that doing engineering at university makes them very employable,” she says.
Last month, the Higher Education Funding Council for England announced that engineering was a strategically important subject for the nation. As a consequence engineering departments will receive some central funding to boost the finance stream from tuition fees. Departments can expect just over £1,000 per student, money that is not available in other subject areas such as the arts or humanities.
Atkinson says that it is not clear how long this additional funding will continue. But the money is welcome, as engineering is an expensive subject to teach, she says. It requires labs, practicals and project supervision, which is all labour intensive. Departments gain income from a variety of funding streams, including postgraduate education. Atkinson adds that recent changes to visa regulations have made it more difficult for overseas students to study in the UK, which could have a knock-on effect for undergraduate provision.
The government and funding agencies have yet to fully describe how the new funding regime will work. Professor Matthew Harrison, director of education at the Royal Academy of Engineering, fears that funding will not be sufficient to produce the quality of education required for the rapidly expanding and technological society that we live in, even with relatively high fees.
He explains: “Engineers are on the leading edge of delivering solutions to the problems of climate change, energy and the ageing population. We are increasingly at the centre of the innovative and entrepreneurial activity that is going to rebalance the economy and trade us out of a recession.
“Under the old funding regime it was very finely balanced, so if there is any reduction in funding it will be yet harder still. You can’t stack them high and teach them cheap.” In particular, departments may struggle to fund innovations in teaching if running at a financial deficit. These innovations, for example students working with industry to tackle authentic engineering problems, give students self-confidence and a head start in the world of work.
Some engineering departments may be more vulnerable than others in light of the changes, says Harrison. Research has suggested that small departments, which undertake niche research, may be under the most threat. In this type of department, the reduction in teaching grants plus potential losses in research money as a result of a more focused funding approach could spell trouble. “It could have a small effect on the number of graduate engineers but a very large effect on industry,” says Harrison.
At this stage, engineering departments themselves are seeing a mixed picture. The school of engineering at the University of Warwick has seen a drop in applications from UK students. Dr Tony Price, deputy head for teaching at the school, explains that part of this fall is down to the fact that many people who might have started university this year rushed to apply last year. Usually, 10% of applicants to study engineering at Warwick defer entry for a year.
The full impact of this will only become clear further into the admissions cycle, he says. In April or May students will select their first-choice university. “We might be a small percentage down, but if those were the people who wouldn’t have come anyway we won’t be worse off,” he adds.
It could be that this year more people who have applied defer till the following year in order to work and save up money for their studies. But Warwick is oversubscribed and these fluctuations in recruitment are not likely to make a big difference. “For engineering we expect to see a little dip this year and then hopefully see it bounce back,” he says.
A similar pattern is expected in terms of funding. The university has modelled a five-year plan which sees finances dip into deficit and then improve into surplus – provided student numbers do not collapse – once the higher fees have worked through the system.
But, even when the department is in deficit, students are unlikely to see any effects as Warwick has the resources to see itself through. Price adds that some departments are always in deficit and others always in surplus, but the university manages budgets centrally so finances balance out as a whole. “Other universities may be more vulnerable,” he says.
As part of the reforms, the government has lifted the cap on the number of students who achieve AAB+ at A-level that a university can recruit. At Warwick, where the offer level is AAB for engineering, the move is welcomed. Price says the move is unlikely to have a significant effect on student numbers.
At London South Bank University the picture is slightly different. This university only recruits 5-10% of its engineering students from the AAB+ pool. Philip Lockett, academic pro-dean for the faculty of engineering science and the built environment, says that major growth in this area is not a focus for the university. South Bank has the highest proportion of students who received free meals at secondary school in the country. Lockett fears that, if the changes are not communicated correctly, less fortunate students who could thrive in higher education may be put off.
But the admissions figures suggest that this has so far not been the case. The faculty has seen a 2.5% rise in applications for the coming academic year, compared with 2011 figures. Looking back to 2010, applications are up 12-15% this year. Lockett says: “I think students are taking into account employability and job prospects.”
Around 40% of students in Lockett’s faculty are part-time, with many sponsored by employers. This brings further concerns over whether businesses are aware that the rise in fees applies to part-time students and that non-means tested tuition fee loans are also available for this group of students.
The faculty does not see the reforms affecting funding levels. He explains that, provided the faculty meets recruitment targets for the coming academic year, funds will remain in line with previous years.
The faculty is geared to increase the employability of students and has structured the curriculum accordingly. Last summer the faculty received a £1 million donation from the businessman Nathu Puri to set up an engineering and enterprise facility. This will focus on skills such as communication and entrepreneurship to make sure students are ready for the workplace. “Our employability is good, particularly for our part-time students, but we need to deliver on that for all our students,” he says.
As to whether students who have paid £9,000 a year for tuition will be more demanding than those who paid less for a degree, Lockett is unsure. “We haven’t seen step changes in demand every time the fees go up – I think we may see a shift towards studying degrees that lead to a particular profession. That may be the reason engineering is holding up,” he says.
At the University of Plymouth, applications to study mechanical engineering are up 15% on last year, and 35% on 2010. Applications for the foundation year – which allows students without A-levels in sciences and maths to progress to engineering degrees – are up dramatically. The number of prospective new students for 2012 has risen 40% compared with 2011, and 87% compared with 2010.
Professor Neil James, head of the school of marine science and engineering at Plymouth, speculates that the government push to rebalance the economy and boost manufacturing is having an effect on student choices. “The fees are forcing people to think about what they want to do when they graduate,” he says.
But James adds a note of caution. The turn-out at the school’s open days for this academic cycle was 50% less than in previous years. So it is difficult to predict what might happen in October.
The school’s budget for the coming academic year looks “OK” and James says that the reforms are unlikely to have much of an effect on teaching for UK students. Programmes are being revised to include more research-informed teaching and peer-assisted learning.
But the school is looking to increase revenue. In the future it hopes to create partnerships for the delivery of overseas learning. This involves running courses using Plymouth’s curriculum and standards, with teaching done abroad by local staff. James’s team is also trialling a distance-learning masters degree in marine science, which could be used as a model for other courses.
Unlike Warwick and London South Bank, Plymouth hopes to expand the number of students with AAB+ at A-level studying at the school. The number of international students also looks set to rise.
James adds that the mood in the department is positive but there are still uncertainties ahead.
“Workloads are high, but it’s an exciting time. The university is doing well, and intakes in engineering have expanded over the last few years,” he says.
Fly away to study in Thailand
One institution that is looking to the international market is the University of Central Lancashire. It is opening a private campus in Bangkok, Thailand, which will teach engineering at undergraduate and postgraduate level along with other subjects.
Students from the UK will be able to apply to study for full degrees at the campus. Although the pricing structure has not yet been finalised, it may provide an affordable option for UK students looking to reduce the cost of getting a degree.