Even those who drop out of university should have their progress certified

If Covid-19 has taught us anything, it is that life throws unexpected hurdles our way – and that getting past them can require a lot of persistence and flexible thinking. In 2021, we need to translate this idea into every aspect of life, including our higher education model.

Unemployment as a result of the pandemic is still increasing, and figures from the Office for National Statistics for the three months to November 2020 show that the UK unemployment rate rose to 5 per cent. Data from the Institute for Fiscal Studies highlight that nearly one in four people aged 54 and over who were working before the crisis were on furlough in June and July in 2020, while one in five of those still working were working fewer hours. Meanwhile, among the self-employed aged 54 and over, a third were not working. We cannot ignore this.

With such an economic challenge on our hands – and with the pandemic catalysing the digital transformation of society – we need to do all we can to reskill our working population and ensure that as many people as possible – young and old – have the skill sets required for the careers of the future.

Moving forwards, for example, we will need people with the skills to build e-commerce platforms, keep people safe against cyber-attacks, and create the monitoring technology required to keep future viruses at bay. But we will only have enough of them if we implement flexible further and higher education options to support people to study at different times in their lives – especially mature students. Flexible modules that fit alongside people’s lives and work commitments will be key to achieving this.

In England, we are heading in the wrong direction, with data from the Office for Students showing a 22 per cent decline in the number of mature students entering higher education between 2010-11 and 2018-19.

Part of the issue is ensuring adequate preparation for university-level study among older students. At Staffordshire University, we are addressing this with our pre-degree Step Up to Higher Education programme; other universities could adopt similar measures to help people take that vital first step back into education – and some already do. 

Speaking to graduates of our Step Up scheme highlights how transformational it can be. I was recently made aware of a 41-year-old man who is now in his second year of an engineering degree. He has a job in a warehouse but it does not give him the financial security he needs to look after his family; he hopes his engineering degree will provide that – and also allow him to get a job designing tech to track infectious diseases.

Such personal stories also emphasise to me how we need to do more to help students juggle learning with work and family life. In particular, we need to make it easier for mature students to take time out of a three- or four-year course because of unforeseen life events.

If a student has to drop out of a course – temporarily or permanently – before their three years of study are up, they should not leave without qualifications. In other words, we need a university system in which people are rewarded for the modules they undertake, not one in which their efforts are only recognised once they have completed their final exams. They ought to receive certificates setting out exactly what they have learned – making it easier for them to celebrate their achievements, and also making it clear to employers that their university study was not for nothing.

Universities can’t do all this alone: we will have to work closely with the government to set the requisite funding streams and accreditation standards in place. But many observers have declared 2021 the year to press the restart button. If we seize the moment, we can make this crucial flexibility a reality for the difficult decades to come.

Liz Barnes is vice-chancellor and chief executive of Staffordshire University.