14th March 2018 9:00
By Blue Tutors
A new government scheme is being launched which will rate universities nationwide on a course by course basis. Reported on the BBC, the idea is to give students a more transparent way of choosing which university to go to, and which course to choose based on the quality of teaching and how employable they will be after graduation. The courses will be rated gold, silver or bronze and students will have access to the information in 2020 when the tool goes live.
With the vast majority of universities charging the maximum allowable tuition fees, the government want to ensure that they are offering value for money, and that the standard of teaching is ‘world-class’. Students deserve to know more about the outcome of their degree, and the information will be supported by the Teaching Excellence Framework to give data on the number of students who drop out and the jobs which they go on to do.
The scheme has been met with some criticism because it will have to take a lot into account. For example many universities recruit students from the local area, so graduate wages will be skewed in favour of the south of England and London. Also, a spokesperson from the National Union of Students said that there is little faith in the TEF, so the result of this new information might just be a chance for universities to ‘game their metrics’, rather than drive continuous teaching improvement.