23rd May 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
This week a survey by the Higher Education Policy Institute and Which? consumer group has revealed that university students receive just 18 minutes more teaching time each week than they did seven years ago. This is despite the fact that tuition fees have risen from £1000 to £9000 a year over this period. After the rise in tuition fees, universities in England have received an average income increase of £5.6bn, the average income rising from 17.4bn to £23.bn. However, the majority of this money has been spent on new facilities and equipment rather than increasing teaching time.
The survey also revealed that although the number of teaching hours students are receiving hasn’t changed, undergraduates are working longer hours than they did ten years ago. Students at 103 universities were surveyed in 2006 and again this year, revealing that students spend an average of 79 minutes more on independent study each week than they did ten years ago. The survey also found that there was a significant variation in the number of hours students had to put in to get a degree at different universities.
Commentators attribute the rise in the number of hours students spend working to the rise in tuition fees. A spokesperson for the National Union of Students said that the rise in tuition fees meant that students were encouraged to see education as a financial transaction, but at the same time are unable to hold their institutions to account. Universities UK have pointed out that the increase in funding from tuition fees has been balanced by a drop in state funding.