Memorandum submitted by The Royal Society
SUMMARY OF
KEY POINTS
— As a signatory to the Bologna
Process, the UK Government must engage seriously with the implications
of Bologna for the UK higher education (HE) system. An in-depth
and holistic consideration of the advantages and disadvantages
of the present Bologna proposals and full involvement in the ongoing
Bologna negotiations are imperative if UK HE institutions are
to be actively involved in implementing Bologna reforms.
— We believe that the Bologna
Process has the potential to act as a driver for change more generally
in UK HE: the process provides an opportunity for the UK to consider
more broadly whether our current system is delivering what students,
employers, the economy and wider society need from its graduates.
— It is essential that the Government
consults widely with the learned societies and professional bodies
that are considering the place of the UK integrated masters courses
and one-year masters courses on a subject-specific level and works
to clarify the status of both these qualifications within the
Bologna Process.
— The Bologna Process could have
profound consequences for the flows of students and graduates
within Europe and beyond. It is important that consideration is
given to how the UK engages with the Bologna developments to maximise
these opportunities for the nation.
1. The Royal Society welcomes the opportunity
to submit evidence to the House of Commons Education and Skills
Committee inquiry on The Bologna Process. This submission has
been prepared with the advice of the Society's Higher Education
(HE) working group and has been approved by Professor Martin Taylor
FRS, Vice President and Physical Secretary, on behalf of the Council
of the Royal Society. We are also submitting evidence to the Committee's
inquiry on The future sustainability of the higher education
sector: purpose, funding and structures.
2. HE is a vital component of the UK's education
system and plays a major role in maintaining the nation's intellectual
vitality and culture, preparing its students for their future
contribution to society and building a leading knowledge-based
economy. The Society's HE working group has recently published
a report entitled, A degree of concern? UK first degrees in
science, technology and mathematics (Royal Society 2006),
which emphasises the need to place UK HE developments in a European
and global context, and from which many of the points in this
submission are drawn.
3. The working group is currently engaged
in a broader study considering the fitness for purpose of UK science,
technology and mathematics (STM) HE into the middle of the next
decade and beyond, Science HE 2015 and beyond. [13]One
issue that the group has identified for consideration is the structure
of UK HE studies in the light of the Bologna Process. This response
is informed by the group's thinking on these questions to date
and the input from various organisations to the group's call for
evidence on this subject. However, the study will not report until
autumn 2007 and the group will be developing its thinking on questions
related to the Committee's inquiry over the coming months. We
would be happy to expand further on the points in this submission
or to give oral evidence to the Committee, and we hope to stay
in close contact with the Committee as our respective studies
develop.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
4. The Bologna Declaration, signed by European
Ministers for Education in June 1999, expressed the goal of developing
a European Higher Education Area (EHEA) by 2010. Through specific
objectives, the Bologna Process is working towards developing
a coherent European HE environment to foster employability and
mobility in Europe. It also aims to increase the competitiveness
of European HE in the world. We strongly support these broad aims.
5. We believe that, as a signatory to the
Bologna Process, the UK Government must engage seriously with
the implications of Bologna for the UK HE system. An in-depth
and holistic consideration of the advantages and disadvantages
of the present Bologna proposals and full involvement in the ongoing
Bologna negotiations are imperative if UK HE institutions are
to be actively involved in implementing Bologna reforms.
6. The UK is currently responsible for providing
the Secretariat to the Bologna Follow Up Group and its Board prior
to the next Ministerial Summit in London in May 2007. This should
provide the impetus for the Government to raise the profile of
the Bologna Process and stimulate UK HE institutions to engage
fully in the key debates surrounding Bologna compliance.
7. We fully support the efforts of those
learned societies and professional bodies that are considering
the effects of the Bologna Process for their relevant disciplines.
We are concerned that many of these bodies do not believe that
the Government is exploring the detailed implications of the Bologna
Process for specific subjects in sufficient depth. We also welcome
the efforts of the Europe Unit, jointly funded by Universities
UK and the three higher education funding councils of England,
Wales and Scotland, in raising awareness of the Bologna Process
and strengthening the position of the UK HE sector in debates
over the Bologna Process.
8. We believe that the Bologna Process has
the potential to act as a driver for change more generally in
UK HE. Aside from the opportunity the process provides for the
UK to consider how the structure, content and purpose of the different
stages of our current HE system compare to the arrangements in
other countries, we should anyway be exploring more broadly whether
our current system is delivering what students, employers, the
economy and wider society need from its graduates and how this
will evolve over the next decade.
EDUCATIONAL INTERFACES
9. There are different 14-19 education systems
across Europe. The Bologna Process must take account of these
different inputs to HE and allow signatory countries to maintain
the necessary flexibility to meet the educational needs of those
students entering HE.
10. Within the UK too, there is increasing
student choice within the 14-19 curriculum. Although secondary
school rolls are predicted to fall over the next decade, which
may in time affect the number of options available, it is imperative
that universities recognise the multiplicity of entry qualifications
and subject combinations with which students are starting their
courses and actively work to help them bridge the gap between
the skills, knowledge and experience they have already gained
and degree-level study.
THE BOLOGNA
PROCESS AND
THE UK
11. The UK, unlike many other signatories
to the Bologna Declaration in 1999, already had a two-cycle (bachelors,
masters) degree structure as an integral part of its HE system.
However, other countries have moved quickly to embrace the opportunities
for structural and curricula reform presented by the Bologna Process.
For example, Germany started the process of introducing two-cycle
qualifications in 2002 and will complete nationwide introduction
by 2010 (BMBF 2005) and France has been gradually implementing
a two-cycle system since 2002 (BFUG 2005). It is important for
both the UK Government and HE institutions to appreciate the extensive
changes that other countries have made to their HE systems to
accommodate the Bologna Process.
12. While the Bologna Process Stockingtaking
Report (BFUG 2005) presented to Ministers at the 2005 Bergen conference
shows the UK in a broadly favourable position with regard to the
main Bologna Process actions, there are still areas of potential
conflict such as those discussed in paragraph 13. The UK risks
falling behind other countries and thereby losing competitive
advantage unless it addresses these issues.
13. There are two specific areas of concern
that we would highlight as being of particular importance for
the science, engineering and mathematics communities: integrated
masters courses and one-year masters courses. The Framework for
Qualifications of the EHEA adopted at the Bergen summit in 2005
stipulates that first-cycle qualifications should typically include
180-240 European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) credits and second-cycle
qualifications should typically include 90-120 ECTS credits, with
a minimum of 60 credits at the level of the 2nd cycle. Currently
the European Commission's User Guide for ECTS states that one
calendar year can only be allocated 75 ECTS, leading to concern
that the UK's masters and integrated masters programmes are incompatible
with Bologna requirements and might be regarded as "lightweight"
compared to the second-cycle programmes in many other countries
which last two years.
(a) Integrated masters courses. The introduction
of four-year integrated masters programmes in science and engineering
(for example, MSci and MEng degrees) during the 1990s was motivated
principally by the difficulty of fitting all of the work believed
to be necessary in a first degree into the already heavy workload
required of science and engineering undergraduates. The implications
of the Bologna Process for these degrees is considered in a note
published by the Europe Unit (UUK 2005) in consultation with the
Quality Assurance Agency, the HE Funding Councils and the Standing
Conference of Principals, which gives guidance on how such courses
could be made Bologna compliant. The suggestions made within the
note include teaching students over the summer vacation—which
would have serious implications for the staff time available for
research and international collaboration—and incorporating
industrial placements into such programmes—which would be
easier in disciplines such as engineering than in, for example,
mathematics or theoretical physics.
(b) One-year masters courses. One-year
taught masters programmes in the UK often achieve more than 60
ECTS (EUA 2005) and are considered by many universities to be
a particularly attractive part of the UK HE system, especially
to overseas students. They also generate a significant income
stream for many institutions. However, there remains the danger
that if graduates from longer European masters courses are considered
to be more attractive by employers, the UK one-year system and
its graduates would lose their competitive advantage. For example,
there is growing evidence that firms and elite academic research
teams have found that, in general, UK PhD graduates are not as
mature or well-rounded as their French, German or US counterparts,
due to the shorter overall length of the UK HE system (see, for
example, EPSRC 2002, 2003, 2005). While length alone is not the
most important measure of a course, it is clear that there is
a limit to the amount of work that can be done in a fixed time.
14. It is essential that the Government
consults widely with the learned societies and professional bodies
that are considering these questions at a subject-specific level
and works to clarify the status of both these qualifications within
the Bologna Process. One of the aims of the Bologna Process is
to enhance the employability of graduates and it is therefore
vital that the perspective of employers is also sought on these
questions.
INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
15. Countries from elsewhere in the world
are becoming increasingly interested in the Bologna Process and
its implications for the international competitiveness of their
own HE systems. Australia was invited to attend the 2005 ministerial
meeting in Bergen as an observer, and China is seeking observer
status for the 2007 ministerial meeting in London.
16. The Department of Education, Science
and Training in Australia consulted in early 2006 on Australia
and Bologna (DEST 2006), highlighting the risks of Bologna incompatibility
for the country. They saw these risks as including: other countries
or regions following the Bologna route, resulting in an increased
tendency for relationships between aligned systems at the expense
of less compatible systems; and, Europe becoming a more attractive
destination for overseas students at the expense of Australia.
It is clear that these risks could equally apply to the UK should
it choose to not fully engage with the Bologna Process.
17. UK science cannot flourish in isolation
from the rest of the world. Science is a globally competitive
business, and UK scientists must be able to engage with the best
scientists throughout the world if they are to remain at the forefront
of science. There are considerable benefits to increasing the
mobility of students in Europe and beyond. Both UK students who
choose to complete a part of their HE studies outside the UK and
UK students studying within the UK who are joined by students
from other countries will build linkages and relationships which
may prove valuable whatever their future career. The Bologna Process
could have profound consequences for the flows of students and
graduates within Europe and beyond. It is important that consideration
is given now to how the UK engages with the Bologna developments
to maximise these opportunities.
REFERENCES BFUG
(2005). Bologna Process Stocktaking Report from a working group
appointed by the Bologna Follow-up Group to the Conference of
European Ministers Responsible for Higher Education, Bergen, 19-20
May 2005. Bologna Follow Up Group: Bergen. Available online
at www.bologna-bergen2005.no/Bergen/050509_Stocktaking.pdf
BMBF (2005). Status of the Introduction of
Bachelor and Master Study Programmes in the Bologna Process and
Selected European Countries Compared with Germany. Federal
Ministry of Education and Research (Bundesministerium für
Bildung und Forschung): Berlin. Available online at www.bmbf.de/en/3336.php
DEST (2006). The Bologna Process and Australia:
next steps. Department of Education, Science and Training:
Canberra. Available online at www.dest.gov.au/sectors/higher_education/publications_resources/profiles/Bologna—Process_and_Australia.htm
EUA (2005). Trends VI: European universities
implementing Bologna, Reichert S and Tauch C. European University
Association: Brussels. Available online at www.eua.be/eua/en/policy_bologna_trends.jspx
EPSRC (2002). Chemistry at the centre: an
international assessment of university research in chemistry in
the UK. EPSRC: Swindon. Available online at www.epsrc.ac.uk
EPSRC (2003). An international review of
UK research in mathematics. EPSRC: Swindon. Available online
at www.epsrc.ac.uk
EPSRC (2005). International perceptions of
UK research in physics and astronomy: the second international
review. EPSRC: Swindon. Available online at www.epsrc.ac.uk
UUK (2005). The Bologna Process and UK's
integrated Masters programmes. Europe Unit, Universities UK:
London. Available online at www.europeunit.ac.uk/resources/E-05-12.doc
Royal Society (2006). A degree of concern?
UK first degrees in science, technology and mathematics. Royal
Society: London. Available online at www.royalsoc.ac.uk/policy
December 2006
13 Further details of the Science HE 2015 and beyond
study are available at www.royalsoc.ac.uk/policy Back
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