Memorandum submitted by UCL (University
College London)
1. UCL is pleased to have the opportunity
to respond to this inquiry. We endorse the points made in evidence
submitted on behalf of the UK Higher Education sector. As a research-intensive
university with a significant proportion of international students
(and, unusually in the UK, as a net "importer" of Erasmus
students from the EU) and with a significant volume of international
research collaborations, we would like to take this opportunity
to emphasise aspects that are of concern.
2. The Bologna Process has had a remarkable
impact on many European countries within the space of the last
seven years, and has led to fundamental reforms of higher education
systems. The impact has been noticed in many parts of the world
and is having knock-on effects from America to Asia. The Process
has much more than purely European significance—witness
initiatives to align French-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries,
curricular reform in Latin America, ECTS pilots in Asia, and the
current ministerial review in Australia. For the UK, it offers
opportunities but it also brings challenges.
The implications of a three-phase structure of
higher education awards for one-year Masters and short undergraduate
courses (HNCs, HNDs, and Foundation Degrees) and the possible
implementation of a European Credit Transfer System (ECTS) and
a focus on learning outcomes and competencies
3. Formal Bologna policy, as agreed by ministers
of participating countries, does not in itself pose significant
problems; indeed, there is much to welcome, such as the development
of transparent Quality Assurance systems; and the three-cycle
structure is already very familiar in UK culture. However, it
is the implementation of formal policy at national level that
can bring the challenges; far from being standardized, different
countries are implementing the reforms in different ways, often
by law. Where there are problems with the recognition of UK Masters
qualifications, they arise from the local application of the three-cycle
structure, rather than from Bologna agreements as such. There
is no intrinsic problem with one-year Masters programmes—plenty
are being developed in other European countries; but there can
be problems if the programme follows a three-year Bachelors degree,
for example, or if a country has chosen to require two years (or
equivalent) study at Masters level.
4. That there are problems of recognition
of qualifications is well known. We are aware of individual cases
at all levels. Although many European countries have endorsed
the importance of Learning Outcomes with enthusiasm, in practice
it is often workload that is the stumbling block to recognition.
Many UK degrees have a shorter associated notional workload than
is required (often by law) in some countries, particularly where
those countries have followed the ECTS Guide's recommendation
of 25-30 hours workload per ECTS credit and operate a 40-week
academic year (the UK's 10 hours per credit and 30-week academic
year). In fact, if we are short of usable data on recognition
problems: there are plenty of anecdotes but little evidence to
quantify. A requirement to establish some verifiable data on recognition
issues would be a welcome outcome of this inquiry.
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 Minister's Initiative for International Education (PMI 2)
5. Recognition problems apart, an indirect
effect of Bologna reforms has been the development of many new
higher education programmes taught in English in continental Europe.
There are certainly new competitors in the market for international
students. While we at UCL are confident that the quality of our
programmes will continue to attract excellent students from across
the world, it is clear that some international students are starting
to choose non-UK destinations for their higher education. A major
factor here is our exceptionally high fee level for students from
beyond the EU. While the reputation of UK HE remains high, international
students can now find very high-quality programmes, taught in
English, at excellent universities, for little or no fee. It is
true that many continental universities are beginning to charge
fees, but it will be decades before their fee levels reach ours.
If we want to maintain our position in the global market, a much
higher level of scholarship provision has to be found.
6. We would be happy to supply further detail
on these points if more information is required.
December 2006
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