When Em Johnson received a letter offering her a place on an
MA course in social work at London Metropolitan university, she was thrilled.
Caring for others was what she wanted to do. Sitting down at the kitchen table
examining the costs of studying, however, it dawned on her: this vital step
towards the job she yearned to do was impossible. The numbers did not add up.
"It was the rent. I simply could not afford to live."
Today, seven years later, Johnson, 28, who lives in Hanwell,
west London, with her husband and two-year-old son, is a substance misuse
worker at a GP's surgery. She still yearns to join her chosen profession, but
it still isn't possible. "The social work course is essentially a
nine-to-five job with no payment, plus all the academic side. I had worked
throughout my undergraduate degree to get by, but even that was not possible if
I wanted to do this postgraduate course," she said.
"We have done everything in the right order: a mortgage
at 22, married at 23, we don't live an extravagant lifestyle – but I just can't
make this next step to do the job I want."
Johnson's story is typical of thousands who, on completion
of their undergraduate degrees, need to develop their skills to take the next
step, be it in a profession or academia, but cannot because they are not from
wealthy families, do not have easy access to credit or cannot find a sponsor.
The problem itself is not new. But what is troubling many is
its growing scale and seriousness, prompting vice chancellors from leading
universities across the UK to talk of a looming "catastrophe" both
for social mobility and the British economy.
When the undergraduate system was reformed, in line with the
recommendations of former BP chief executive Lord Browne, to allow universities
to charge up to £9,000 a year for courses, postgraduate course fees quietly
followed to make up for the huge cut in finance from central government for
teaching. The latest figures show an 11% fee increase this year – and the
universities predict that will be just the start.
Facing huge financial pressures, research councils – the
public bodies that award grants for academic research – have completely
withdrawn support for people taking standalone taught master's degrees (usually
one-year courses that do not form part of a PhD).
Meanwhile, last year banks agreed to give professional and
career development loans to fewer than half (44%) of the 22,716 people who
applied, and then only at onerous interest rates.
Inevitably, the latest figures show that there were over
8,000 fewer UK students taking up taught postgraduate courses in 2010-11 than
the year before, a 4.3% contraction. This year's figures, due out on Thursday,
are expected to be worse still.
But it is in a year and a half that the true postgraduate
crisis looms, senior academics say. Then it will be the turn of the students
loaded with debts from the new system to decide whether they can afford to do
more studying.
Students from wealthy backgrounds may be able to afford to
study the subjects they need to grab the best jobs and the biggest salaries.
Foreign students, particularly from China and Brazil, are flocking to the UK
for postgraduate courses – often supported by their governments, who spy a
chance to grab a top-class education without establishing their own expensive
institutions. But for the majority of home UK students, this world-class
education may be out of reach.
Now, 11 leaders of universities in England, Scotland, Wales
and Northern Ireland have condemned the existence of a "policy
vacuum" where there should be a funding model for would-be postgraduate
students, as Professor Simon Gaskell, the vice chancellor of Queen Mary,
University of London, puts it.
The absence of such a scheme for "an advanced economy
that needs high level technical skills and workforce flexibility" is a
"catastrophe", according to Professor Don Nutbeam of Southampton
University, or, in the words of Professor Jules Pretty, deputy vice-chancellor
at Essex university, a "ticking timebomb".
The situation is less serious in Northern Ireland and
Scotland than England and Wales. In Scotland, the number of UK students
undertaking taught postgraduate courses at Edinburgh University is not growing
as well as the vice chancellor, Sir Tim O'Shea, would like, but students will
not face the same debt as those south of the border because fees have not
trebled. In Northern Ireland, the executive has pumped money into universities
as an economic stimulus and the institutions are using the cash to fund
research degrees. But the vice chancellor at Queen's University, Belfast,
Professor Sir Peter Gregson, says the lack of a funding model for students who
need to do a taught master's course also worries him.
The problem demands action, according to Professor Thomas
Docherty of Warwick University, who sits on the steering committee of a newly
formed campaign group, the Council for the Defence of British Universities.
"There is a massive problem already emerging here and we are very
concerned by it," he said. "Postgraduate funding has been totally
neglected. It is almost as if the government thinks the problem will go away,
will sort itself out."
The council, whose members include Lord Bragg, Sir David
Attenborough and Professor Richard Dawkins, believes it is one of the biggest
issues facing the country and is meeting this month to find a solution. But the
academics who are now voicing their fears – from Edinburgh to Exeter and
Belfast to East London – know that it will be the government that needs to take
the bull by the horns. "We have got a year and a half to get this right
before this cohort, who are paying £9,000 in undergraduate fees, come through
to make a decision on postgraduate study," Pretty said. "We need some
sort of loan system by then, otherwise the home market is likely to
evaporate."
"We are getting very nervous as it gets closer and
closer," admitted Professor Trevor McMillan, pro-vice-chancellor for
research at Lancaster university. Professor Robert Allison, vice-chancellor at
Loughborough university, added: "People are sort of ducking the issue. We
need someone to say that we are going to solve this."
Source: 5 January 2013, The Observer by Daniel Boffey – Policy
Editor
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