House of Commons - Government reform of Higher Education - Business, Innovation and Skills Committee

Government reform of Higher Education - Business, Innovation and Skills Committee Contents

5 Provision of information, advice and guidance

Introduction

148. The White Paper says that "wider availability and better use of information for potential students is fundamental to the new system. […] Better informed students will take their custom to the places offering good value for money".[149] High-quality information, advice and guidance (IAG) is also identified as crucial to raising levels of participation by students from under-represented groups:

Potential students need high quality advice and guidance to make informed decisions about whether higher education is the right option for them and, if so, which route to take and what subjects to study to prepare them for their desired course.[150]

149. The Government has therefore proposed that all higher education institutions 'designated to receive student support' should, from September 2012, publish a standard Key Information Set (KIS) about all courses, in a form which enables comparisons between institutions. The Government has also asked UCAS and higher education institutions to make available information about the "type and subjects of the actual qualifications held by previous successful applicants"[151] to help prospective students make informed choices about which subjects to study. Improvements are also planned to the presentation and availability of statistical information about higher education institutions.

Key Information Set (KIS)

150. The new Key Information Set (KIS) is the cornerstone of the Government's proposed new regime of information, advice and guidance. For each course designated for student support, the KIS will cover issues such as tuition fees, student satisfaction, assessment and teaching methods used, other associated costs, and employment destination data about past students.[152]

151. Anthony McClaran, Chief Executive of the Quality Assurance Agency told us that it was "essential that the information necessary to make that kind of judgment [about the value for money offered by a course] is available in an easily accessible form and in a comparative form to students".[153] Several other witnesses also emphasised the need for the information in the KIS to be comparable, and contextualised.[154]

152. We understand that the proposal is for the KIS for each course to be hosted on each institution's own website to enable the institutions to "own the information and […] maintain it over time".[155] A link to the relevant KIS will also appear on the UCAS information and application page for each course.[156] While this will provide welcome information to prospective students, there does not appear to be plans for a central site on which the KIS for different courses and institutions can be compared side by side. The University of Hertfordshire expressed concern that "by having to work through dozens of links in order to compare institutions' KIS […] students may only consider universities they have a preconceived idea about".[157] Sir Alan Langlands, of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) explained that they were "under huge pressure to get [the KIS] up and running for obvious reasons, given the Government's emphasis on choice based on the availability of information, and that was … all that can be done with very limited resources and in the time available."[158]

153. We consider it essential that the KIS for all higher education courses should be available from a central point, in a form which allows direct comparisons to be made between courses and institutions. We are encouraged by references in Students at the heart of the system to interest from organisations such as OpinionPanel, Push, the Student Room and Which? in providing such a comparison service. The private sector may be in a good position to deliver this service quickly and efficiently. We recommend that, as a priority, Government engages with these companies to develop an effective and impartial comparison site as soon as possible.

154. We are concerned about how the information in the KIS will be made accessible to prospective students who do not have easy access to the internet, and recommend that at the very least, institutions should also be required to advertise widely, the availability of hard copy versions of the KIS with their prospectuses. To facilitate side-by-side comparisons of printed versions, we recommend that a standard form be agreed for the KIS.

EMPLOYMENT DATA

155. The Government proposes to include within the Key Information Sets for each course, data on employment destinations and salaries of recent graduates. As well as the proportion of graduates in employment or further study six months after graduation, the KIS will also specify the proportion of those graduates in full-time 'graduate' jobs, along with the average salary earned by graduates from that particular course compared with the average salary for graduates in that subject across all institutions, measured at six and forty months after graduating.

156. Some witnesses suggested that "snapshot" of employment data six months after graduation was too early to give a true indication about graduate prospects.[159] The University of Hertfordshire in particular noted that "graduates from non-traditional backgrounds […] may, as a result of their circumstances, find it takes longer to establish careers than other graduates".[160] A recent report by the Institute for Leadership and Management also noted that "over half (57%) of graduates expect to leave their [current] employer within two years [and] 40% expect to leave within a year".[161]

157. We are pleased that the Government has also chosen to include employment data from forty months after graduation in the KIS, but we believe the predominance of data from only six months after graduation gives these data undue weight. We are also concerned that the prominence of data on graduate salaries could create a perverse incentive for institutions to steer their graduates towards high-paying jobs, possibly unrelated to the course studied, so as to enhance the data in the KIS and encourage recruitment to their institution.

158. We recommend that as part of its improvements to the information available to prospective students, Government should ensure that detailed information on the sectors or types of roles in which graduates of each course are employed are contained within Key Information Sets.

159. Given the increasing reliance on well-informed students to shape HE provision, and the inclusion of data in the KIS about employment outcomes and endorsement of courses by professional bodies, we recommend that the membership of the Higher Education Public Information Steering Group be expanded to include one or more representatives of the all-age National Careers Service, and the Alliance of Sector Skills Councils.

Provision of information at schools

160. While our witnesses welcomed the principle of introducing Key Information Sets for prospective students, they also highlighted the importance of early advice and information at schools to encourage potential students' aspirations and subject choices. Daryn McCombe, a recent graduate who had also been a student member of Quality Assurance Agency review teams, told us:

Schools, particularly secondary schools, need to do a lot more work with pupils all the way through from the beginning to the time they go on to A levels and national vocational qualifications etc. You can do a lot more work with people a lot earlier on in terms of things like careers advice. […] To be honest, by the time you get to application stage essentially it is family background and experiences at school that will make those choices for you, so unless you have been able to impact people at a much earlier stage by the time you get to the application it is too late.[162]

161. Other witnesses also emphasised that interventions to provide information and guidance to school pupils should begin early enough to enable it them to affect pupils' aspirations and subject choices—at least by age 13 or 14.[163] Professor Colin Riordan of Universities UK commented that "the key intervention is at age eight or nine. That is where the evidence shows you can make the biggest difference".[164] Sir Peter Lampl of the Sutton Trust explained that his Trust runs outreach programmes for pre-school and primary school-age children. He argued that "you can intervene effectively at all stages in the process" and that it was possible to intervene successfully at 17, but intervening at a younger age could be "more effective".[165]

162. In his report to the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister on Access to Education, Simon Hughes MP recommended that "primary schools should as a minimum arrange for 10 and 11 year olds a careers event […] where parents, family members and others come in to talk to pupils about their jobs and work, and give pupils the opportunity to ask questions about how to obtain and qualify for them."[166] He also recommended that:

At the age of 13 and 14 […] every student should have made available to them information on all future pathways through education to employment, including information about which types of career different educational choices can lead to. [167]

163. Aaron Porter, then President of the NUS agreed. He said that:

Successive Governments have talked almost relentlessly about the need for improved information, advice and guidance. […] If we want to give applicants informed choices, it is not good enough to wait until they are 17 or 18. These things start much earlier.[168]

164. The Minister agreed with the need for a wider dissemination of information asserting that the Government was "making progress and there will be more information in the months ahead". However, he acknowledged that the Government had not "got as far as I would have liked in year 1".[169]

165. It seems clear that for the next three to four years at least, young people will be expected to act as informed consumers in an unfamiliar market place, for which their schooling has not necessarily prepared them. We recommend that the Government, as a matter of urgency, put in place transitional arrangements so that prospective students have the necessary advice and guidance infrastructure to help them make informed decisions on their education.

Careers advice

166. For many young people, formal and informal careers advice from school teachers will be one of their primary sources of information. The Education Bill replaces schools' existing duty to provide careers education with a new duty to "secure independent careers guidance" for pupils in Years 9 to 11 (roughly ages 14-18), including information on options for further education and training (including apprenticeships) available from age 16. Ministers intend this duty to apply from September 2012. It will no longer be possible for a school to fulfil its duty to provide careers advice by asking a single teacher or other employee to provide guidance to all pupils. Unless there are changes to the Education Bill during its passage through Parliament there will not be a specific duty to require schools to provide face-to-face advice to young people.[170]

167. Separately, the Government is replacing the Connexions service, which is currently funded by local authorities, with a new "all-age" National Careers Service to be fully established from April 2012. According to the White Paper this will:

Provide comprehensive information about careers, skills and the labour market, and advice and guidance on all options, including vocational study in colleges, training through Apprenticeships, and higher education.[171]

The National Careers Service will be provided predominantly online and via a telephone service, with face-to-face advice only available to people aged 19 or over.[172]

168. These proposals give rise to a number of concerns, particularly about the timing of their implementation and the means by which careers advice will be provided. The deadline for UCAS applications for higher education courses beginning in September 2012 is 15 January 2012.[173] There is therefore a clear gap in provision of advice about higher education options for young people during 2012. When asked about transitional arrangements, the Minister told us that:

The anecdotal evidence we get is that interest at open days and summer schools is, if anything, as great as ever, and the questions are in some ways more penetrating than in the past. We did write, via the DFE, to all schools and colleges with people in the crucial age group, drawing the head teachers' and principals' attention to all the resource that was available online.

He concluded:

I hope that young people get access to the information that they need.[174]

169. The dependence on on-line and telephone advice was highlighted as a shortcoming by a number of our witnesses. Lorraine Dearden of the Institute for Fiscal Studies cited research carried out by the London School of Economics which showed that children from schools in deprived areas did not tend to proactively access web-based or telephone services.[175] Simon Hughes MP also stated in his Report that "young people overwhelmingly value receiving careers information, advice and guidance from another person—in person".[176] Martin Doel of the Association of Colleges pointed out that the Government's proposals were almost entirely reactive:

The services being offered in the all-age careers service seem to me a demand system; the empowered consumer demands information from the system to make choices about the way forward. That may be effective in that regard and it has probably been funded to do so. In some places you need a push to more actively engage the young person, and sometimes older people, to push to them the opportunities that may be available and to open their eyes up to the mechanisms they can use. There needs to be a combination of this: push and pull. The pull element is well served within this system or potentially; I am more concerned about the push element.[177]

170. We asked the Minister about this reliance on online or telephone support, and the lack of a proactive element. He told us that under the Education Bill "schools will be required to get independent advice and guidance", and that his Department was "working very closely with the DWP and hope that, not least through jobcentres, hard-to-reach groups, such as people who are on benefits, will have access to that type of information, advice and guidance, as well as its being available on websites".[178] He also drew attention to the work being undertaken by Martha Lane Fox on digital inclusion.[179]

171. We are not satisfied with the Minister's answers on this point. Our witnesses argued for the need to take proactive action to raise the aspirations both of school pupils and of older people from groups traditionally under-represented in higher education. Providing information and guidance in an accessible format which is tailored to the needs of the audience is part of this. In support of this view, Simon Hughes MP recommended that "colleges, universities and groups of universities should form partnerships with faith, cultural and sports organisations, supermarkets and shopping centres, transport companies and businesses and trades unions to maximise the promotion of opportunities for further and higher education inside and outside the school gates".[180]

172. We do not believe that "hoping" people get the information they need is a sufficient response to concerns about advice reaching young people, in particular those young people in hard to reach groups. The Government must act urgently to put in place transitional measures to ensure school pupils have access to adequate careers advice and guidance before the first UCAS deadline for 2012 applications in January.

173. We support the view that the government should act urgently to guarantee face-to-face careers advice for all young people in schools and agree that the all-age careers service should provide face-to-face advice for people under 19.

174. We recommend that a planned awareness-raising campaign should be put in place prior to the launch of the National Careers Service to make young people and adults aware of the Service and the higher education opportunities which may be available to them.

Quality of information, advice, and guidance

175. We have seen from the evidence submitted to our inquiry that there are already great many organisations offering information advice and guidance to prospective students, including employers, sector skills councils, learned societies and charities.[181] As well as formal sources, prospective students may also be advised by friends, relatives, teachers and through the media.[182]

176. At present, there is little control over the quality of the information and guidance provided. Aaron Porter, then President of the National Union of Students, gave an interesting example of why such quality control was necessary:

There must be at least 50 universities that describe themselves as being in the top 10 in terms of the quality of what they provide, so clearly something does not quite add up.[183]

177. Some measures are already being taken to improve matters. We understand that, from September 2012, the QAA will include in its reports, the quality of public information provided by audited higher education institutions.[184]The quality and consistency of data in the Key Information Sets will also be monitored by HEFCE.[185]In the Report of its inquiry into Participation by 16-19 year olds in education and training, the Education Committee also recommended that the "quality, impartiality and extent of career guidance services in schools" should be monitored by Ofsted as part of its inspections. [186]

178. However, none of these measures cover the quality of information and guidance provided by third parties outside the education sector. Both the QAA and Ofsted are in the process of moving to a more 'risk-based' inspection schedule, meaning that some institutions may be inspected less often in future than they are presently. QAA audits and Ofsted inspections also only represent periodic assessments, rather than setting a standard which must be met consistently. The Bridge Group, a policy association which "promotes social mobility through higher education" recommended to us that a "kite-mark system of quality assurance" be developed to identify the most authoritative third-party sources of information and guidance.[187]

179. We welcome all efforts to assist prospective students in making informed choices, but we consider that some prospective students, particularly those from families without experience of higher education, may need assistance in identifying the most reliable, unbiased and appropriate sources of information. Given the infrequency of QAA audits, we do not consider that its endorsement of an institution's public information provision alone is sufficient. We recommend that the Government develop a form of 'kitemark' which could be used to authenticate reliable and accurate sources of information about higher education opportunities.

149 Cm 8122, paragraph 2.24 Back

150 Cm 8122, paragraph 5.9 Back

151 Cm 8122, paragraph 2.19 Back

152 Cm 8122, paragraph 2.10 Back

153 Q 599 Back

154 Ev 234 and 244 Back

155 Q 413 Back

156 Q 414 Back

157 Ev w100 Back

158 Q 414 Back

159 Q 174, Ev w4, Ev w98 Back

160 Ev w100 Back