In search of a part-time paradise

Part-timers make up 43 per cent of the undergraduate population, yet they are often overlooked by policy-makers. Yvonne Cook looks at why the sector needs to raise its profile

September is a busy time on the higher education stage. After the drama of A-level/Higher results and the obligatory attendant row over standards, there's the ritual of Clearing as school leavers who've found themselves without a university place scramble to secure one. But the spotlight on this annual rite of passage blinds many of us to the fact that, for a large minority of students, it is irrelevant. They are the 43 per cent of the undergraduate population who are classified as "part-time".

Despite their numbers - some 567,000 in 2003 - surprisingly little is known about who they are and why they study. This is one reason why Universities UK (UUK), the university heads' representative group, launched a major research project into part-time higher education last year. UUK hopes its findings, due to be unveiled in full in October, will help shape government policy to take more account of the part-time sector.

"The main problem with the part-time sector is there is no such thing as a 'part-time student', in the sense that there is a single pattern that they all follow," says Tim Cobbett, policy advisor for UUK. Part-timers show huge variation in age, income, employment status and reasons for study. They can be studying anything between 10 and 95 per cent of the rate of a full-time student. Not all part-time students are studying with specialist part-time providers such as The Open University and Birkbeck, part of London University; a significant number are with universities or other regular higher education providers in their own locality.

This diversity may go some way to explain why part-time students and providers have long complained of feeling like second-class citizens. "The term is getting a bit hackneyed but it is true - we feel like the Cinderella of higher education," says Tricia King, director of external relations at Birkbeck.

"Part-time students do not get the benefits available to full-time ones. We are not in the UCAS clearing system, because part-time students apply directly to their institution. We are excluded from the university league tables because we cannot produce a UCAS points tariff. Most of our students come in without traditional qualifications, and UCAS points are one of the data given to the league tables.

"We are not in the Times Good University Guide, we are not in the Push Guide. Yet in the recent national student satisfaction survey we were the top London institution and third overall nationally, with The Open University first.

"As a group, part-time students are just not as militant or as vocal. They are such busy people."

A radical mindshift is needed, the sector believes. With more mature students now going to conventional university and more school leavers choosing to study part-time, some even question whether the distinction between full-time and part-time is valid any longer. UUK's research found that some part-timers are studying "virtually full-time" - and at The Open University more than 5,000 students a year now study at the full-time rate. At the same time, recent research by the Royal Bank of Scotland suggests that nearly half of full-time students will be doing part-time jobs during term time in the coming academic year, with one in five working more than 20 hours a week.

"In lots of cases, the distinctions between full-time and part-time are only relevant for the purposes of financial support," says Martin Watkinson, director of planning at The Open University. "You know and I know, lots of full-time students are holding down part-time jobs. And so-called part-time students, at the OU and elsewhere, may be studying anything up to 32 hours a week, which is as much as many full-time students are doing. The way that many students are approaching their studies ceases to draw this fine distinction between full- and part-time."

What has brought the question of part-time identity abruptly to a head, is funding. The decision to allow universities to charge variable top-up fees from this month has been a headache for the part-time providers, who believe their students will be less willing, or able, than full-timers to stomach big hikes in course fees. Full-time students, they argue, have access to the Government's student loan scheme and can defer payment of fees until they have graduated and are earning; part-timers do not.

Research independently by the UUK, The Open University and Birkbeck backs up the case that part-time students are more "price sensitive" than their full-time counterparts, and this poses a dilemma for providers. If they charge much higher fees, like most of the other universities, they will lose students. If they don't, they will lose income. This year both the OU and Birkbeck have opted for the latter course, with much smaller rises in fees than their full-time counterparts. But it is widely believed in the sector that even these more modest fee increases may be tipping many part-time students over the edge. It is unknown territory, and if they get it wrong, part-time providers believe, the impact could be serious. Some are forecasting a big drop in part-time student numbers, including, those on access courses.

According to Professor John Annette, who is pro vice master for widening participation at Birkbeck, part-time education is at a "critical point". "With the sort of funding institutions are getting from having full-time students, there will be a number considering whether they should take part-time students at all," he says.

The Government has taken note. In October 2005 Bill Rammell, Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, announced big increases in the grants available to part-time students, provided they are studying at at least half the full-time rate; and more money for part-time institutions to spend on widening participation of groups under-represented in higher education.

Rammell says that he wants to see part-time education and work-based learning expand. "The changes we have made to the part-time student support package this year - a 27 per cent increase in part-time student grant and a substantial increase in the Access to Learning Fund - have really made a difference," he says.

"There has already been a significant expansion in part-time education and work-based learning and we will see it increasing further. We are trialling from this September a higher education version of the Train to Gain initiative, a partnership between higher education, employers and ourselves. This will involve more people getting to degree education through work-based learning. We have also an initiative which is being trialled through UVAC (the University Vocational Awards Council), to accredit in-house education and training."

Rammell adds that the media focus on top-up fees has obscured the fact that "there is a lot of fee support" available. He also says that the Government will be running a number of initiatives to get across the benefits of the new part-time support package over the next few months.

Part-time providers have welcomed the extra resources, but say it only goes part of the way to ensuring part-time students are enabled to afford their study. "Under this Minister the Government seems to be at last recognising part-time education. It has taken an important step forward," says Annette. "But it needs to recognise the full range of part-time students; a large number are studying less than 50 per cent of full-time, so they do not have access to any benefits."

Part-time providers have a range of measures to soften the blow to students. Birkbeck offers extra help on top of government support, while OU students have the option to pay by instalments. They are also busy trying to get the message through to students. "Government has increased thresholds at which students are eligible for grants, up to £25,645 household income, more if you have dependants, which is a big jump," says Jake Yeo, fees and financial awards advisor at the OU.

"One of the issues is making sure the message gets out to students and potential students. The standard 60-point course fee at the Open University is £525; if you qualify for full financial support you get up to £750 - the whole fee, plus help with study expenses such as a computer or broadband.

"While there is probably an assumption that those on state benefits or unemployed will receive help, those on incomes of between £15,000 to £25,000 might not automatically assume there is financial support. Now there is."

For general information about student finance go to the website www.direct.gov.uk and click on "Education And Learning", then "University And Higher Education" and "Student Finance". For the OU see www.open.ac.uk/new/ and click on "Financial Support". For information on Birkbeck, see: www.bbk.ac.uk/ reg/finance/ug_finance

Identity Crisis: What's in a name?

Part-time students are going through an identity crisis. Their universities use a variety of names to describe what they are doing, including "non-traditional", "lifelong", "supported open" and "distance" learning. But it is doubtful that these labels mean much to the average student, or prospective learner. This is a concern for the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), which is currently conducting research to find the most informative and appealing descriptions for use in forthcoming publicity campaigns around part-time study. Among the terms its research will be testing out for their pulling power are "flexible", "portfolio", "modular", "work-based","mature" and "on the job [students]".

Terminology is equally a headache for David Andrew, director of marketing and sales at the OU. He says: "We once conducted research where somebody said: 'How can you describe The Open University as part-time study when it is taking over my life?'. And the terms "supported open learning" and "distance learning" have negative connotations; people think they will be studying on their own, even though we have the largest student body in the UK, who can talk and interact through associate lecturers, local support and technology."

The message that marketeers are now trying to convey is "learning tailored to an individual's lifestyle". But, admits Andrew: "We are struggling for some terminology which is both meaningful and descriptive, and has the potential to differentiate us as a university."