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We all knew that participation in part-time study was in decline, but a 40% drop in enrolments in just two years should come as a warning to everyone, including employers. The figure, cited again today in a timely study from Universities UK (UUK), reminds us of the problem that is now up to higher education and employers to fix.
Part-time study is closely linked to equality of opportunity. The majority of those taking this path are over the age of 21, most are women and many have dependent children. As importantly, it is intimately linked to economic prosperity and the long term needs of businesses. Part-time study allows growing businesses to retain homegrown talent and invest in new skills in changing economic conditions.
The UK still lags behind many of its competitors when it comes to higher education participation. OECD statistics show that 38% of UK adults (aged 25-64) have achieved a higher education qualification of some kind. In Canada more than half of the adult population (51%) achieve the same level of learning. In the US the figure is 42%, Japan is hitting 45% and Israel 46%. In a knowledge-based economy, where 'learning to learn' is a strategic skill, we cannot afford for our figures to fall as the part-time pipeline closes up.
As the UUK report points out, there is little evidence that the sudden gap is being plugged by students choosing to study with private providers, or in new ways. The possibility of an economic impact is very real unless we take immediate action to stem the decline. The country's capacity to keep up with global innovation depends on the ability of the workforce to adapt. Part-time study creates internationally competitive workers and employers.
UUK states that there is an opportunity for universities to consider how to make their part-time offer more attractive to students. It invites others – such as employers – to help find solutions to the problem.
Employers understand the value of part-time education. They have years of experience in delivering flexible, work-based training to their staff as skills needs wax and wane. They also know what kind of skills, expertise and competencies their employees need and want to learn through further study. If universities want to keep their part-time offer alive, they need to co-operate with business.
As UUK points out, local business groups might be the best conduit to the expertise held within the business sector. The coalition government has helpfully set up local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) – a sort of steering group focused on local economic growth comprised of businesses and other regional representatives, including local authorities – which higher education can make good use of. Designing an attractive part-time offer for local students requires collaboration from all players within these groups.
We also need fresh ideas about how to deliver part-time courses. Massive open online courses (Moocs) are opening higher education up to new participants. Blended learning – in the classroom, online, in the workplace – will inevitably become part of all new courses for prospective part-time students and will open up a 21st-century route to gaining new skills and expertise. Finding new, creative ways to help part-time students fit study around their personal and professional obligations will be essential if universities want to keep student numbers up.
This course of action will take some commitment from higher education and business, in both time and money. But investing in mature and part-time students pays major economic and social dividends. Working with business and modernising provision will make a key contribution to reversing the decline.
David Docherty is chief executive of the National Centre for Universities and Business – follow it on Twitter @NCUBtweets
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