The Rt. Hon. Lord Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science from 2010-2014, outlines the position of modern universities within the skills landscape in England
There is a very misleading picture of universities as somehow unconcerned with vocational skills which are seen as very different from their academic role. This goes back to the idea that a liberal education could not possibly be useful. But that doctrine never captured the wide range of vocational courses taught at universities going back of course to law and medicine.
Modern universities often have their origins in meeting the practical needs of their area – training teachers for local schools and engineers for local factories. Those traditions carry on today. Indeed more than a third of courses at modern universities are accredited by professional, statutory or regulatory bodies, producing a graduate with a license to practice a trade or profession.
The focus at the moment is on degree apprenticeships. These are a very welcome addition to the range of higher education provision. But they have their limitations too. For a start they cost a lot to deliver and as the graduate does not currently have to pay back any of the cost that cost all falls on the providers. That means they are financed out of the Apprenticeship Levy which is now 99% spent. This creates an expenditure constraint and limits their growth. If they were instead to be partly financed out of student loans repaid only when income is above an earnings threshold, then there would be no limit on their growth. That is one of the key advantages of the fees and loans model.
