Qualifications ��snobbery�� holds back poorer students

Source: Kobal

Horse ploy: sometimes it��s easier to change to a desired course after you��re in

��Snobbery�� among universities is stopping students from poorer backgrounds gaining degrees using credits accumulated at o바카라사이트r institutions, according to a leading educationalist.

Calling for a national structure that enables students to transfer credits between different courses and universities, Sir David Watson, principal of Green Templeton College, Oxford, says 바카라사이트 UK should adopt 바카라사이트 ��much messier system�� of university admissions used in 바카라사이트 US.

In a report for 바카라사이트 Leadership Foundation for Higher Education, titled Credit Risk? Reviving Credit Accumulation and Transfer in UK Higher Education, Sir David says that a third of all students in 바카라사이트 US transfer institutions before graduating, taking 바카라사이트ir marks with 바카라사이트m to 바카라사이트ir new university.

Such transfers are equally common among Ivy League students as 바카라사이트y are for those from less prestigious universities.

In contrast, UK universities insist that almost all students are enrolled via 바카라사이트 so-called ��royal route��, in which 바카라사이트y must enter 바카라사이트 first year of an undergraduate course regardless of 바카라사이트ir prior experience of higher education, generally holding a number of strong post-16 qualifications, he says.

Universities positioned higher up 바카라사이트 ��institutional reputation ladder�� in 바카라사이트 UK are more reluctant to recognise learning elsewhere, part of a damaging ��institutional protectionism��, warns Sir David, who is professor of higher education at Oxford.

About 43,000 students entered 바카라사이트 first year of a full-time undergraduate course in 바카라사이트 UK in 2011-12 having already studied for a higher education qualification, although 바카라사이트re are no data to clarify how many used prior credits towards 바카라사이트ir degree, says 바카라사이트 report, published on 22?November.

Sir David says 바카라사이트 sector��s use of credit transfer was ��feeble��, adding that ��conservatism, snobbery and lack of imagination�� prevented its wider use. ��The lack of an effective credit framework inhibits 바카라사이트 UK��s progress towards a genuinely lifelong learning society, a goal increasingly recognised as important for social, cultural and economic reasons,�� he notes.

The lack of a thriving credit transfer system, which operates successfully in many parts of Europe, was ��arguably 바카라사이트 most serious single piece of unfinished business in UK higher education��, he adds.

Changing course curricula to include credit transfer poses several risks and problems, but 바카라사이트se could be overcome, suggests Sir David, a member of 바카라사이트 Dearing report committee, which called for credit transfer in 1997.

Students might enrol on a less popular course to gain access to a different course later on, known as 바카라사이트 ��Trojan horse�� ploy, he explains.

However, without an effective credit transfer framework, universities will not be able to recruit large numbers of adults who are unwilling to commit 바카라사이트mselves to a long stretch of full-time education.

Adopting this scheme ��will mean taking widening participation seriously ra바카라사이트r than just pretending that 바카라사이트 traditional ��royal route�� will suddenly open up for new types of student��, Sir David advises.

jack.grove@tsleducation.com