Memorandum submitted by The Russell Group
The Russell Group is pleased to provide this
evidence to the Select Committee's Inquiry into the Bologna Process.
The Russell Group consists of the Universities of Birmingham,
Bristol, Cambridge, Cardiff, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Imperial, King's
College London, LSE, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle,
Nottingham, Oxford, Queen's University Belfast, Sheffield, Southampton,
University College London and Warwick. Many of the issues raised
by the Bologna Process are generic throughout HE and the Russell
Group is aware that Universities UK is responding to this inquiry
on behalf of the sector generally. Therefore in this evidence
it wishes to emphasise particular aspects of importance to research-intensive
universities, which provide for a significant volume of the UK's
international research collaborations and which recruit a significant
proportion of students from Europe and of course further afield.
The paragraph numbers below correspond to the order of the issues
set out in the terms of reference for the inquiry.
1. The Bologna Process should provide for
a greater collaboration with and understanding of continental
systems of HE and should assist with personal development through
student and staff mobility. It should be recognised that it will
also help to create much increased competition in HE provision
within Europe both for home and international markets. It is also
possible that, de facto and perhaps inadvertently, there might
be some increased difficulty for the recognition of UK qualifications
in some countries (see 3 below).
2. The agenda for the 2007 meeting in London
will cover issues of importance to UK HE, including consideration
of basic principles for doctoral level qualifications in Europe—of
especial concern to the Russell Group—and quality assurance
arrangements. Such arrangements will need to be flexible and light-touch.
3. There are important matters still to
be addressed with regard to one year Masters degrees and Integrated
Masters within the three-cycle system. It is important to acknowledge
that this is not because of Bologna requirements in themselves,
or indeed because of any Ministerial determinations. Rather it
is because of the manner in which Bologna policies have been interpreted
by some of the national legislations. The UK can help matters
by making appropriate adjustments to academic programmes (eg with
regard to credit), but any clarifications on the application of
Bologna requirements and expectations would be helpful in resolving
some of the recognition problems that our students can now encounter
in Europe.
4. No Comment.
5. No Comment.
6. Credit systems are one of the central
issues when considering the recognition of qualifications. Most
continental countries use ECTS. Following upon the Burgess Reports,
ECTS is unlikely to become the standard system in the UK. The
credit system recommended for the UK has many benefits within
the UK but does not easily articulate with ECTS because of different
expectations of how student load/contact hours should translate
into credit.
The UK has rightly championed an emphasis on
learning outcomes rather than inputs throughout its engagement
with the Bologna Process. However, it will be important to ensure
that outcomes do not come to be expressed too rigidly or formulaically.
7. No Comment.
8. The Russell Group would support the maintenance
of the present UK degree classification system, supported by UK
Transcripts which fully meet the criteria for the Diploma Supplement.
9. The impact of Bologna has been perhaps
been greater in Europe than the UK, but it has still been considerable.
In seeking greater integration through Bologna, it must be ensured
that the objective is to maximise flexibility and mobility and
that Bologna does not ultimately become a threat to the diversity
that is valued within the UK HE system.
Bologna has brought with it greater competition
within Europe in the global market for students, but this is more
to do with the consequent development of new programmes on the
Continent taught in English and by the fee differential between
the UK and many Continental competitors. This is a serious issue
which will only be addressed through more scholarship monies being
made available to UK universities.
December 2006
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