Memorandum submitted by London Metropolitan
University
London Metropolitan University is grateful to
the House of Commons Education and Skills Committee for inviting
comment on the Bologna Process.
The University has over 3,000 international
and over 4,000 EU students. Many of its home (UK) students are
recruited in the wider London region from ethnically diverse communities,
originating in all parts of the world. Of necessity it has a strong
interest in developments in the higher education sector at global
and EU levels. It has offices in China, India, Nigeria and Pakistan,
as well as a significant presence in Athens and Moscow.
London Metropolitan is the only UK HEI to maintain
a dedicated office in Brussels. As head of European development,
my role is to advise senior management on the impact of the Bologna
Process and of EU legislation on the University's operating environment.
I liaise with the EU institutions and with sectoral bodies such
as the European University Association. I am a UK Bologna Promoter
and am familiar with a significant sample of UK HEIs.
The comments in this memorandum follow the list
of the Committee's terms of reference.
1. IMPLICATIONS
OF THE
BOLOGNA PROCESS
FOR THE
UK HIGHER EDUCATION
SECTOR: ADVANTAGES
AND DISADVANTAGES
1.1 The Bologna Process presents an important
opportunity for the UK to maintain its position in the international
and European student recruitment and knowledge export markets.
1.2 It allows UK HEIs to locate their provision
within a framework that promises to extend far beyond the boundaries
of the current 45 signatory countries. The ASEAN countries, the
Latin American countries, Australia—all are closely following
developments. It is not fanciful to think that the Bologna Process
might one day offer a global template for qualifications frameworks,
cooperation between quality assurance agencies, and student mobility.
Many in the sector—notably students—will regard it
as a factor relevant to the consideration of what represents value
for money.
1.3 Compliance with Bologna norms significantly
facilitates UK HEIs' delivery of joint transnational degrees,
as well as their activities as partners in the EU-funded programmes
which link with third countries: ACP-Edulink, ALFA, ERASMUS MUNDUS,
EU-Australia, EU-Canada, EU-US, TEMPUS, etc.
1.4 Within the EU, it strengthens the platform
from which UK HEIs can engage, on a consortial basis, in inter-regional
development and knowledge transfer. It allows core teaching and
executive training to be more coherently linked to research and
innovation, whenever these extend beyond UK borders.
2. THE AGENDA
FOR DISCUSSION
AT THE
2007 MEETING IN
LONDON—CLARIFYING
THE UK POSITION
2.1 The UK position is now being elaborated—as
a synthesis of the views of the devolved administrations and stakeholders.
An external view of UK performance will be provided by the Trends
V report currently being drawn up by the European University Association.
Preparation of the agenda for the summit, meanwhile, is essentially
a function of the ongoing stocktaking, managed by the countries
sharing the steer of the process, including the UK as host. Stocktaking
will show how far signatory countries have advanced in creating
the European Higher Education Area, scheduled for completion in
2010.
3. THE IMPLICATIONS
OF A
THREE-PHASE
STRUCTURE OF
HIGHER EDUCATION
AWARDS FOR
TO ONE-YEAR
MASTERS AND
SHORT UNDERGRADUATE
COURSES (HNCS,
HNDS, AND
FOUNDATION DEGREES)
3.1 There is no reason why sub-degree courses
cannot sit within the Bologna three-tier structure, provided that
they are clearly designated, appropriately credit-weighted, accurately
located in the national qualifications framework and described
in Diploma Supplements.
4. AWARENESS
AND ENGAGEMENT
IN THE
BOLOGNA PROCESS
WITHIN HEIS
4.1 Awareness and engagement are patchy—and
such awareness as exists does not necessarily trigger engagement.
Essentially, this is due to the tendency within HEIs to dichotomise
their non-UK recruitment, collaborative links and revenue streams.
The "European" is routinely distinguished from the "international",
to the detriment of the former. As a result, many universities
regard the Bologna Process as relevant only to European activities
and as financially insignificant. It does not sit, as it should,
at the centre of medium-term academic and marketing strategies.
5. OPPORTUNITIES
TO ENHANCE
THE MOBILITY
OF STUDENTS
FROM THE
UK
5.1 Bologna greatly enhances mobility opportunities
for outgoing/departing students, but these should be backed up—at
HEI level—by systematic use of the instruments bundled into
EUROPASS: the CV, the mobility pass, the Diploma Supplement and
the Language Portfolio. Students, rightly, will want study undertaken
in UK to retain its currency in whichever country they subsequently
seek higher degrees and/or work. British universities tend to
think that their awards, of themselves, are universally transparent,
credible and good value for money. However, as a competitive global
HE system begins to take shape, these qualities have to be demonstrated
in terms of compliance with emerging norms.
6. THE POSSIBLE
IMPLEMENTATION OF
A EUROPEAN
CREDIT TRANSFER
SYSTEM (ECTS) AND
A FOCUS
ON LEARNING
OUTCOMES AND
COMPETENCIES
6.1 ECTS is already implemented, and has
been for many years, as a credit transfer system. Discussions
are under way at EU-level to re-engineer it as a credit accumulation
system, one which can be reliably used in a lifelong learning
context. England has no national credit system—something
which hampers HEIs operating outside such regional or sub-sectoral
systems which do exist. The recent Burgess Group proposals on
"national arrangements for the use of academic credit in
HE in England" correctly recommend a close watching brief
on the evolution of ECTS.
6.2 The European Commission is now persuaded
of the importance of competences, and of output rather than input
models of learning. The pedagogical advantages of this approach
are real, and UK experience in the field is rapidly being adopted
by other HE systems. The EU's Tuning Project has achieved a great
deal in building subject-based consensus on the competences appropriate
to qualifications at the three Bologna levels.
6.3 UK HEIs hope that the focus on learning
outcomes will help justify what are often perceived to be "short"
Masters programmes. Duration, together with perceived quality,
credit rating and price, plays a part in the estimation of value
for money, since it impacts on accommodation and subsistence costs
and timing of entry into the labour market. The wider context,
that of the HE services market, is unstable. Bologna seems bound
to impel a movement towards price convergence, by increasing transparency
and comparability, but at what speed and to what extent is difficult
to foresee.
7. QUALITY ASSURANCE
SYSTEMS IN
HE (TEACHING AND
RESEARCH): THE
COMPATIBILITY OF
UK PROPOSALS AND
BOLOGNA
7.1 Quality assurance at European level
is evolving in a manner compatible with UK practice; indeed, the
UK has played a significant role in the process. EU legislation
encourages HEIs to seek—from agencies in other countries
(if their own country permits)—accreditation and quality
assurance services capable of enhancing their international projection.
The Bologna Process will facilitate such initiatives.
8. DEGREE CLASSIFICATION
REFORM IN
LIGHT OF
BOLOGNA
8.1 Degree classification, as practised by UK
HEIs, is essentially opaque to foreign students, partner institutions,
regulators and employers. If and however it is reformed, the transparency
required by all parties will be best provided by use of the Diploma
Supplement.
9. THE BROADER
IMPACT OF
BOLOGNA ACROSS
EUROPE: A
MORE STANDARDISED
EUROPE AND
THE CONSEQUENCES
FOR THE
UK'S POSITION
IN THE
GLOBAL MARKET
FOR HE (BOLOGNA
AND THE
SECOND PHASE
OF THE
PRIME MINISTERS
INITIATIVE FOR
INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
(PMI 2)
9.1 For the extent to which Bologna will
reinforce PMI, see the response in para.1 above. It should be
noted that the UK's European competitors will use Bologna to break
into the lucrative student recruitment market for English-language-delivery
courses. UK HEIs that eschew Bologna compliance are likely to
be placed at a serious disadvantage.
9.2 Bologna does not "standardise":
it allows a wide diversity of provision to enjoy equal recognition
in a global context, equal facilitation of student mobility, and
equal utility in the international labour market.
9.3 There are two important respects in
which Bologna will impel changes, the extent of which cannot be
measured at present: (a) the portability of grants and loans,
to which all signatory countries are committed; (b) the effect
on the content and duration of the professional qualifications
which fall within the scope of EU Directives and Regulations.
Both of these are likely to present UK HEIs with a significant
strategic challenge.
December 2006
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