Following UCAS’ projection of one million applicants for higher education by 2030, leading education and public policy experts have today outlined how they would tackle the coming challenge – their options include building more universities in education ‘cold spots’, expanding existing universities and increasing degree apprenticeships.
Today’s key contributions to UCAS’ national debate on the projected Journey to a Million include:
- ‘A starting assumption could be that every major town should have some form of higher education institution.’ – Rt Hon. Lord Willetts FRS, President of the Resolution Foundation and Former Minister for Universities and Science
- The HE system is ‘too inflexible and will need to adapt to a future student population that may be older, lacking conventional entry qualifications and needing to combine study with work.’ – Dr Stephen Coulter, Head of Industrial Strategy, Skills and Sustainability and James Scales, Policy Lead, Skills and Future of Work, Tony Blair Institute for Global Change
- Online learning can meet the demands of ‘learners who cannot commit to traditional on-campus in-country study due to existing careers, family commitments or financial constraints.’ – Dr Anthony Manning, Director and Dean of Global Lifelong Learning, University of Kent
