Degree of success? A review of delivering BSc Honours degrees in an FE college

Abstract

Widening participation initiatives led by the government encourage non‐traditional students to enrol in higher education courses usually offered through a franchising arrangement between a Higher Education Institution (HEI) and a local Further Education Institution (FEI). The focus has been on the development of foundation degrees with most collaborative agreements concentrating predominantly on offering these qualifications on the proviso that students must attend the host HEI to complete the final full degree year. This review focuses on an FEI in South Wales which has successfully obtained a franchise to offer BSc provision at honours level in care studies and childhood studies. Delivery of honours provision is a new concept for the FEI in question; issues considered revolved initially around the establishment of an HE ethos and environment within the college together with the additional requirement for implementing guidelines for dissertation supervision and scholarly activity which are not normally a remit of FEIs. A model for the delivery of HE in an FEI had already been established previously but it soon became apparent that provision of honours level required some modification and expansion of this model looking at flexibility of delivery within the traditional inflexibility of an FE teaching contract. The issues surrounding this and their subsequent resolution are discussed in terms of both practice and policy development. The first year of honours provision was outstandingly successful and it is hoped to develop an established model of HE provision in an FEI that encompasses the total progression pathway from sub‐degree to full degree for students who are described as non‐traditional students within the widening participation culture. The outcomes of this review will become the baseline for the development of a comprehensive policy for delivering HE provision in a FEI.