Finance – Qualifi

Student loans system forces nurses to pay back £19k more than lawyers, say peers

Web Dev — Tue, 12 Jun 2018 17:36:00 +0000

High interest rates on student loans should be cut from 6 per cent to 1.5 per cent to prevent middle-earning graduates from paying back more, the House of Lords economic affairs committee said.

The report from the committee argued that the higher education system offers poor value for money to students and the taxpayer, and that funding is “too heavily skewed” towards degrees.

Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, chairman of the committee, said: “The way we expect students to access higher and further education is deeply unfair. We must create a single system, including apprenticeships, that offers more choice and better value for money.”

Sally Hunt, general secretary of the Universities and Colleges Union, said the report should be fed into the government’s post-18 education review, which is being undertaken by Philip Augar.

She said: “Now, more than ever, we must be able to offer decent opportunities for people to improve their skills, and to learn new ones. “Part-time study and further education colleges will be central to that mission if it is to succeed.”

Ray Brogden, COO of Qualifi points out that alternative and more cost effective Higher Education pathways are available; including those which result in receipt of an Honours Degree. Qualifi’s Ofqual regulated qualifications at Level 3, 4, 5 and 6 are Advanced Learner Loan recognised. Subject to eligibility students can take out Loans from the Student Loan Company to access learning via Qualifi approved learning providers. Loans required for the Qualifi L4, L5 with final year Top Up to Honours Degree are substantially lower than that required to pay the £9,250 per annum tuition fee charged by the vast majority of Universities. Colleges of Further Education and Independent Training

Providers approved by Qualifi are able to offer continuation from L2 to L8 inclusive should they wish to enter the Alternative HE market. The majority of Qualifi’s qualifications and Top Up degree options have been designed to e-enabled blended learning delivery, flexibility of access and part-time or full-time study. Thus, a solution to part of the problem outlined in the report already exists! Please do not hesitate to visit the Qualifi website for further information www.qualifi.net or contact Qualifi via https://qualifi.net/contact/

Entire article here – https://www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/student-loans-nurses-lawyers-payments-graduates-lords-economic-affairs-committee-tuition-fees-a8393356.html

Lords criticise ‘unfair’ university fees and loans

Web Dev — Mon, 11 Jun 2018 17:36:00 +0000

The tuition fee system for England’s universities is ripping off students and giving taxpayers poor value for money, says a parliamentary committee.

The House of Lords economic affairs committee attacked a “deeply unfair” system of fees and loans.

Committee chairman and former Conservative minister, Lord Forsyth, said they had also been “quite astonished by the complete collapse in part-time education”. Lord Forsyth says that there is no meaningful consumer choice or competition. The report says that the student finance system has failed to recognise the need to improve vocational skills and to help those wanting to re-train. Part-time student numbers have fallen by about 60% over the past decade. “There is clear evidence that what the economy needs is more people with technical and vocational skills. But the way that the funding for fees and maintenance operates makes it pretty well impossible for us to meet that demand,” says Lord Forsyth.

A Department for Education spokesperson said:

“We agree that for too long young people have not had a genuine choice post-16 about where and what they wish to study…we are undertaking a major review of post-18 education and funding, to make sure students are getting value for money and genuine choice between technical, vocational and academic routes.”

Ray Brogden, COO of Qualifi Awarding Organisation points out that there are alternatives to the traditional 3 year Hons Degree model available via Universities. Qualifi’s Ofqual regulated qualifications at levels 3, 4, 5 and 6 are Advanced Learner Loan approved; providing a cost effective and flexible alternative with Top Up final year University Degree options available. Furthermore, Qualifi’s 120 Credit yielding Level 7 qualifications enable progression on to 60 credit Masters Degree Top Up options including MA, MSc and MBA routes.

For more information please visit the Qualifi website at www.qualifi.net and view the HE pathways and qualification information available via the drop down tab “University Pathways” and “Qualifications”. Please do not hesitate to contact Qualifi should you wish to discuss becoming an approved delivery centre, our contact details can be found here https://qualifi.net/contact/

Full article here https://www.bbc.com/news/education-44433569

Tuition fee value for money: ‘I feel ripped off’

Web Dev — Thu, 15 Mar 2018 17:36:00 +0000

Asked by the new Office for Students if university tuition fees represent good value, are among a significant majority – 62% – who say they don’t think it’s worth the cost.

The OfS spoke to 5,685 current higher education students in England and 534 recent graduates.

When asked whether their overall investment in higher education was good value for money, the majority (54%) agreed, a quarter said they were undecided while 21% disagreed.

In terms of nationality, UK students are the least likely to consider their investment as good value for money (49%), compared to 61% of the students from other EU countries and 66% of those from non-EU countries.

The research also found 24% of students did not feel that they were informed about how much everything would cost as a student.

The main factors cited were the costs of accommodation, books and paying for extracurricular activities.

Full article here – http://www.bbc.com/news/education-43384427

Ray Brogden, COO of Qualifi would like to point out there are alternative, cost effective, advanced learner loan recognised pathways to a degree or masters qualification. You are invited to visit the Qualifi website in order to access additional information within the drop down tabs at https://qualifi.net/university-pathways/

Justine Greening blocked bid to reduce tuition fees, claims ex-May aide

Web Dev — Tue, 16 Jan 2018 17:46:00 +0000

Complete article here – https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/jan/11/justine-greening-blocked-bid-reduce-tuition-fees-nick-timothy

Extracts below.

Theresa May’s former chief of staff has accused the former education ministers Justine Greening and Jo Johnson of blocking attempts to reduce university tuition fees and reform higher education.

Nick Timothy wrote: “Young people must be given better choices at 18. Right now, the incentives tell them to go to university. Many emerge with good degrees, but others come out with a costly qualification that makes little difference. On average, they will graduate with debts of £50,000, the highest in the world. Those who do not go to university – still more than half of young people – are neglected by a system guilty of institutionalised snobbery.”

Ray Brogden, Chief Operating Officer of Qualifi Awarding Organisation points out that there are already alternative higher education qualifications from Level 4 to Level 8 with final year Top Up routes to UK and US University Honours and Masters degrees. The accelerated pathways are available via Qualifi approved centres at a fraction of the fees associated with the traditional pathways provided by the majority of Universities. Further information is available on the Qualifi website www.qualifi.net

Think Tank Suggests ‘Scrap student loan interest and extend payback time’.

Web Dev — Sat, 04 Nov 2017 18:52:00 +0000

Full article here – http://www.bbc.com/news/education-41796728

Extracts below.

Scrapping interest on student loans and extending the time limit on paying it back could help to avoid a future debt crisis, a centre-right think tank says. UK 2020 is proposing that interest on all student loans – typically 6% a year – should be scrapped. This would reduce unpaid student debt by an average of 10%, it said. Combining that with pushing back the current 30-year limit on debt repayment to retirement age would, the report says, increase the number of loans recovered from 25% at present to 80%, benefiting both graduates and taxpayers.

A previous UK 2020 report, issued last month, accused universities of running a “cartel” and failing to offer enough two-year degrees that could cut graduate debt.

A government spokesperson said: “Sustainable university funding and student finance are a priority in delivering this government’s objectives on higher education.

Qualifi Higher Education and Advanced Learner Loan recognised qualifications provide a cost effective alternative to 3 year undergraduate courses for which Universities typically charge tuition fees of £27,750. By studying Qualifi’s Level 4 and Level 5 qualifications and progressing on to final year Top Up at one of our partner Universities, students can dramatically reduce their loan debt and gain an Honours Degree; potentially in two years

FE providers underspent adult education budget

Web Dev — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 18:52:00 +0000

Full article here – https://feweek.co.uk/2017/09/29/revealed-200m-adult-education-budget-underspend/

Extracts below:

Multiple sources have confirmed to FE Week that around 13 percent of the £1.5 billion AEB budget went unspent in 2016/17 – a situation sector leaders described as “worrying” and “frustrating”.

David Hughes, the AoC’s chief executive, said he has been discussing the underspend with the ESFA to “help them understand how frustrating this is for colleges”.

He told FE Week there was “no surprise” the underspend was this large and said 2016/17 had been the first year in which new ESFA rules “restricting the types of students, courses, and activity that could be funded” took effect.

Last week, FE Week reported that roughly £1 billion-worth of advanced learner loans had gone unspent since 2013.

Qualifi’s regulated vocationally related qualifications at Level 3 to Level 6 inclusive are Advanced Learner Loan recognised, providing a means by which providers can encourage and support their local community of learners to access learning and progress into higher education. To become an approved Qualifi centre please visit our website at https://qualifi.net/centres/

Open consultation Office for Students: regulatory framework for higher education

Web Dev — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 18:52:00 +0000

This consultation sets out the context for the creation of the Office for Students and for the proposed regulatory approach and the detail of that proposed approach.

This consultation seeks your views on:

the proposed risk-based regulatory approach for the higher education sector
the guidance on the conditions, behaviours, and evidence for registration
the approach to the transition of providers to the new regulatory framework

The Office is also providing:

a summary of the consultation focused on areas we expect to be especially of interest to students
a summary impact assessment of the risk-based regulatory approach and OfS registration fees

TheOffice is also holding separate consultations on related subjects:

Designated quality body for higher education in England
Designated Data Body for higher education in England
Degree Awarding Powers/University Title
Registration Fees

AoC responds to DfE consultation on the OfS regulatory framework

In response, Julian Gravatt, Deputy Chief Executive at the Association of Colleges, said: “Colleges have offered affordable, local and employment-focused higher education across the country ‎for decades. Around 150,000 students in over 200 colleges benefit from these opportunities each year. The Minister is right that more choice is needed to provide alternatives to the three-year residential full-time degree and colleges are well-placed to deliver this. The Department for Education’s (DfE’s) consultation published today sets out a new framework to regulate higher education. Any new rules must not unnecessarily duplicate existing FE rules or add to costs, and AoC will be highlighting this to the department. It is also important that colleges can make proper arrangements to validate their courses to avoid some of the problems that occur when a university withdraws from doing this at short notice. We want to see a genuine level playing field for colleges in the new HE landscape.”

Qualifi is pleased to see that the little known alternatives to 3 year full-time Hons Degree study programmes i.e. higher education vocationally related qualifications (Advanced learner Loan recognised) deliverable via local providers, colleges and alternative providers, is becoming increasingly recognised in a complex, crowded and competitive market at the core of which should be provision of affordable, flexible high quality HE programmes of study.

£1bn FE loans underspend revealed

Web Dev — Sun, 22 Oct 2017 18:52:00 +0000

Full article here – https://feweek.co.uk/2017/09/22/massive-1bn-fe-loans-underspend-revealed/

Extracts below

A massive 58 percent of FE loans funding – amounting to almost £1 billion – has not been spent since 2013, FE Week can reveal.

The Student Loans Company, which processes advanced learner loans on behalf of the Education and Skills Funding Agency, revealed that just £652 million in loan-funded provision had actually been delivered since 2013, against a massive £1.56 billion in allocations.

There has also been a near-40-percent fall in the numbers of level three and four learners since the loans were introduced, sparking dire warnings across the sector.

Gordon Marsden described the figures as “extremely concerning” ….. “We are going to need the contribution of older people reskilling to keep our economy afloat,” he added, and called on the government to “look urgently at what can done”.

David Hughes, the chief executive of the Association of Colleges, said that demand for FE loans had been “lower than expected”, leading to a “big drop” in adults studying at levels three and four. “The government should be worried about that impact, particularly at this time when skills gaps are growing for many employers,” he warned.

FE loans, originally known as 24+ loans, were introduced in 2013/14 for learners studying courses at levels three or four and aged 24 and older. Despite this persistent under-delivery, loan eligibility was expanded in 2016/17 to include 19- to 23-year-olds, and courses at levels five and six.

FE Week asked the Department for Education why its loan policy was underperforming so badly, and what action it was taking to address the problem.

“We continue to work with the sector to raise awareness of advanced learner loans, which offer important help with the costs of a course at a college or training provider, allowing more people to study and gain new skills,” said a spokesperson.

FE Week understand that colleges and private training providers as groups have both increased the total amount of loans-funded provision they’ve delivered since 2013 – but that private providers increased their delivery at a much faster rate.

In 2013/14 colleges delivered loans-funded provision worth £99.8 million, but by 2016/17 this had gone up to £112.2 million – an increase of £12.4 million or 12.4 percent.

Meanwhile, private providers delivered loans-funded provision worth £9.4 million in 2013/14, but by 2016/17 this had risen to £78.8 million – a far chunkier increase of £69.5 million, or 640 percent.

£45m in ineligible student loans sent to students at alternative ‘university’ providers, spending watchdog finds

Web Dev — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 18:53:00 +0000

Full article here – http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/2017/10/17/45m-ineligible-student-loans-sent-students-alternative-university/

Extracts below.

The number of students studying at the private institutions, known as alternative providers, has more than quadrupled since 2010, following a Government drive to get more students into higher education.

Their courses are currently £3,000 cheaper than universities, with students permitted to apply for loans to cover tuition fees and maintenance costs.

But a report released today by the National Audit Office (NAO) reveals that £45 million has been incorrectly paid out to students registered at alternative providers – with £36 million still to be recovered.

This includes more than £16 million paid out to European students purporting to have residency in the UK or the European Economic Area, but who subsequently failed residency checks when investigated.

It follows an investigation by the Student Loans Company (SLC) and Department for Business, which found that £5.4 million had been paid out to ineligible students from the EU in 2014 alone.

The NAO figures also include more than £9.3 million paid out to students enrolled on unrecognised courses between 2010-2014, while £1.3 million was sent to students in cases identified as fraudulent.

While recognising that the Department for Education had made progress in improving standards and reducing ineligible payments, the report also criticised its lack of oversight in identifying how and why the payments were made.

The figures are likely to be seen as setback for the DfE, which decided to raise tuition fees for alternative providers from £3,375 to £6,000 in 2012.

More recently, Jo Johnson has also been keen to champion the institutions, with the Universities Minister pushing to allow more providers to be given degree-awarding powers.

A DfE spokesman said: “Alternative providers make a strong contribution to the UK’s higher education system, offering greater choice, diversity and opportunities for students.

“We welcome the NAO report and are pleased that it acknowledges the department’s improved regulation of the sector to ensure quality and value for money. This oversight will be strengthened further by the new Office for Students, which has regulatory powers to hold institutions to account.”

Qualifi, an Awarding Organisation providing Higher Education Ofqual regulated qualifications supports the work of those seeking to expose this issue, address the root causes and ensure organisations and individuals abusing the system are taken to task. It is in the interests of students to have available more affordable, high-quality alternative HE education pathways with Top Up to degree options and we must ensure that this is not undermined by the problem raised. Qualifi conducts robust checks on those seeking approved centre status, the identity of students registered on courses and in line with the regulator’s Conditions of Recognition. There are policies and procedures available which seek to ensure security, including centre staff Conflict of Interest and Register of Interest Declarations, Whistle-blowing and Companies House checks on the owners of privately owned Alternative Provider centres.

Education Action Plan for China’ Belt and Road Initiative

Web Dev — Thu, 19 Oct 2017 18:52:00 +0000

Qualifi Awarding Organisation is proud to be involved in and support this initiative through our work with PAM Education and their work with the Tianjin Education Commission (TEC) and colleges in the UK. Below are extracts from a document published by the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China in July 2017.

The collaboration has resulted in the Qualifi Level 3 Diploma in Chinese Culinary Arts jointly developed by Chichester College and Tianjin School of Commerce and Catering. The qualification also marks the first Lu Ban Chinese training kitchen established at Chichester College. The training will be co-delivered with Masters Chef’s from China and their UK counterparts.

Several more UK based Lu Ban projects have been advanced with Qualifi who will be joining colleagues from UK FE colleges, UCL and PAM in attending and speaking at the Tianjin Education Summit in November 2017.

Extracts

The “Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road” initiative, also referred to as “the Belt and Road Initiative” affords opportunities for greater openness, further exchanges and integration. China is ready to work with and expand people-to-people exchanges, strengthen cooperation in the cultivation of talent, and together create a bright future for education.

Mission of Education

Education is vital to the strength of a country and the prosperity of a nation. Educational exchange can serve as a bridge to closer ties and buttress the efforts of these countries toward policy coordination, connectivity of infrastructure, unimpeded trade, and financial integration.

China will integrate with the global trends in educational reform and development. Promoting a common prosperity of education will not only strengthen win-win cooperation, but also provide strong stimulus to reform and development in education.

Vision for Cooperation

The partner countries will work together to deepen mutual understanding, expand openness, strengthen cooperation, learn from each other, pursue common interests, face our shared future, shoulder common responsibilities, and work concertedly to build a Belt and Road educational community. We will strive for equal, inclusive, mutually beneficial, and dynamic cooperation in education. We will work together in an endeavor to:

Promote Closer People-to-People Ties.
Cultivate Supporting Talent.
Achieve Common Development.

Priorities for Cooperation

China proposes three main areas of cooperation to speed up the development of education while catering to each country’s educational objectives, referencing to each other’s experience in educational development, and sharing each other’s best educational resources.

Area 1, we aim to carry out cooperation to improve educational interconnectivity which will include:

Strengthening coordination on education policy.
Facilitating smooth channels for educational cooperation.
Breaking language barriers between the Belt and Road countries.
Fostering closer people-to-people ties.
Promoting articulation of criteria for mutual recognition of academic credentials.

Area 2, we will deepen cooperation on cultivation and training of talent which will include implementation of the following 4 programs:

Silk Road Two-Way Student Exchange Enhancement Program.
Silk Road Co-Operation in Running Educational Institutions and Programs Enhancement Program.
Silk Road Teacher Training Enhancement Program.
Silk Road Joint Education and Training Enhancement Program.

Area 3, we will jointly set up concrete mechanisms of cooperation which include the following elements:

Strengthening high-level consultations on people-to-people exchanges.
Giving full play to platforms of international cooperation.
Implementing the “Silk Road Education Assistance Program.”

Chinese Education in Action

The Chinese Ministry of Education will work closely with other entities such as the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Commerce, and national industrial and trade organizations, to identify important areas for cooperation and to ensure safeguarding mechanisms for operation are in place to facilitate successful implementation.

China will step up the pace of efforts to facilitate the exportation of teaching equipment and traditional Chinese medical services. Qualifi will offer support to foreign partners in running educational institutions and programs, carrying out joint research projects, and providing services to foreign customers. Chinese enterprises should work closely with Chinese education providers in exploring opportunities for cooperation in talent cultivation such as technological innovation and technology transfer.

In 2017, Chinese provinces and cities shall submit their own education action plans detailing concrete efforts to steadily promote educational connectivity and cultivation of talent, and to establish mechanisms for cooperation. In 2018 the common education action plan for the Initiative, which prioritizes cooperation, will be further implemented.