3rd June 2014 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A new survey has revealed that many students in the UK feel that their degree course isn’t good value for money. The survey, conducted by the Higher Education Policy Institute, showed that 25% of students surveyed felt that their course was poor or very poor value for money. Just 44% of students said that they felt that their courses were good or very good value. The survey showed that students are more concerned that their course is not good value for money than ever before, a trend which has widely been attributed to the rise in tuition fees to £9000 a year in England. This is supported by the results from Scotland, which showed that Scottish students at Scottish universities who do not pay fees were much happier with their courses.
The survey was conducted among 15,046 students in between their first and third year of study, and was designed to assess the impact of higher fees by questioning those who paid lower fees, and those who began university after higher fees were introduced. Over half of students paying lower fees felt that their course was good value for money, a figure which dropped to 36% for the same course after the introduction of higher fees. When asked what they felt universities could do to improve, 48% of students responded that universities should lower fees, while 35% cited increasing number of teaching hours decreasing the size of teaching groups as a priority. 31% of students surveyed said that they would choose a different course if they were able to start again.
The government responded to the survey to say that students were becoming more discerning in the wake of the introduction of tuition fees, and that it was right that they should become so. Yet the results are causing concern for universities and parents, showing that students generally feel they are not getting what they are paying for. Whilst tuition fees have gone up dramatically, the quality of education received by students has not altered to reflect this. The department for business, innovation and skills, has said that the results will encourage universities to improve. The Higher Education Policy Institute concluded that the government would need to do more to help universities improve the education provided to students.