Lauren Allen is 21 and studying for a degree-level qualification. She has a salary (and a mortgage) and no student debt.
Deterred from going to university by the fees, she opted instead for a school leaver’s programme with Be Wiser Insurance, earning £18,000 a year to train and study for insurance qualifications at her local further education college in Basingstoke.
If she continues as planned with her advanced diploma, equivalent to a master’s degree level, she’ll finish studying in April next year, at which point her salary could rise to £28,000.
“I never felt I missed out on the uni experience,” she says. “The company organised lots of socials and I made friends. I’ll qualify at about the same time as if I’d gone to uni – but with experience and without the debt.”
Alternative routes to a degree
As careers advisers point out, students who are having second thoughts about university now have more choices than ever before – one of which is to study for university-level degrees at local further education (FE) colleges.
They’re closer to home, cost less, and have smaller class sizes. The subjects they offer are more vocational than some theory-based university courses, which means you leave with a skill you can use straight away.
One in 10 students (pdf) currently in higher education are at a further education college rather than at university, according to research from the Education and Training Foundation. A third of them are under 21, and 44% are studying part-time.
England has 244 colleges with degree-awarding powers: most of them work in partnership with a university which confers the degrees. These colleges also offer foundation courses, apprenticeships and other vocational qualifications.
“We very much welcome students whose A-level results weren’t what they hoped,” says Antony Wright, director of higher education at Bournemouth and Poole college. Applicant numbers are looking more buoyant than last year, he says, and most students live locally. “It may not always be what students set out to do, but it’s definitely a cheaper route.”
Costs are usually around £6,000 a year, and many students study part-time to fit work in alongside. Focusing on areas such as engineering, graphic design, tourism or teacher training, many FE courses are developed jointly with local employers. Applicants can go through Clearing says Wright, who urges students speak to staff before applying: “Committing to a programme takes time and energy, and you do have to pick a course that really engages you.”
There are many other options too; degree apprenticeships, for example, now in their second year, are expanding their subject range to cover everything from digital media through to public relations, via aerospace software development. These employer-university collaborations pay apprentices a full-time wage, while they study for their degrees – the government and employer pick up the tab.
Even the Open University (OU) attracts a younger crowd these days – 30% of students are under 25 and 7% are between 18 and 21. Full-time degrees at the OU cost an average of £5,600 a year and, crucially, set no academic entry requirements. Because you can choose the times you want to study, you can earn money by working during your degree.
• Need to know which universities offer the course you are interested in? Consult the Guardian University Guide 2017.
