Foundation Degree Forward fdf.ac.uk Working for a degree of difference Derek Longhurst

1. Foundation Degree Forward www.fdf.ac.uk Working for a degree of difference Derek Longhurst d.longhurst@fdf.ac.uk

2. ‘If we are to become a leading knowledge based economy we must create new routes into higher education and new forms of provision….We have to develop new higher education opportunities at [the intermediate level], orientated strongly to the employability skills, specialist knowledge and broad understanding needed in the new economy.’ Modernising Higher Education: meeting the global challenge: February 2000

3. ‘The Foundation Degree will offer a new vocationally-focussed route into higher education. It will be academically rigorous and will provide an accessible and flexible building block for lifelong learning and future career success, drawing together further and higher education and the world of work. It will be designed to be highly valued in the labour market and appeal to a wide range of students, including the most able...For students wishing to continue their learning, there will be the opportunity to progress to an honours degree with only one-and-a-third extra years of study.’

4. Sources of innovation ‘….foundation degrees will fail if they are heavily promoted as a system-wide supply-side recipe for growth – what could have been a really imaginative, high quality new venture…..will collapse under the weight of expectation and likely ‘lowest common denominator’ development….’ Watson and Bowden (2005), The Turtle and the Fruit-Fly: New Labour and UK Higher Education 2001-2005

5. Sources of innovation ‘The challenge is to change the curriculum, the environment and the culture so that it meets the needs of learners, not to change the learner so that they meet the needs of the university.’ Geoff Layer (2005), Closing the Equity Gap?, Leicester, NIACE

6. What is a Foundation Degree? • A distinctive HE experience • Integral role for employers • Partnership • Flexibility • Integrated work-based learning

7. Foundation degrees – January 2007 • Total of 2896 Fd courses • 2193 (76%) of these are currently running • 703 new courses in development • 78% Fd courses are delivered by FECs

8. Foundation degree student numbers

9. Foundation degree student numbers by region

10. Foundation degree courses by region (2006-07)

11. Foundation degree courses by subject area (2006-07)

12. Key statistics • In 2006-07 there are 60,925 Fd students (up from 46,780 in 2005-06) • in 2006-07 there are just over 27,000 part-time Fd students (up from just under 20,000 in 2005-06) - there was a drop in overall part-time undergraduate numbers during the same period • 46% of Fd students are taught at HEIs and 54% of are taught at FECs • 56% of part-time students are taught in HEIs Data source: Foundation degrees: key statistics 2001-02 to 2006-07 (HEFCE, 2007)

13. Key statistics • 77% of part-time students are supported by their employer (financially or otherwise), employer support is rare amongst full-time students • 64% of students are aged 21 or over when they start their Fd and 57% of students are female • the proportion of entrants from low participation neighbourhoods is higher than generally found in the undergraduate population - clear evidence that Fds are providing opportunities for those who would not traditionally engage with HE Data source: Foundation degrees: key statistics 2001-02 to 2006-07 (HEFCE, 2007)

14. Foundation Degree Forward www.fdf.ac.uk Working for a degree of difference Derek Longhurst d.longhurst@fdf.ac.uk