The 157 Group has responded to the announcement that the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) has imposed a ‘moratorium’ on new applications for degree-awarding powers and university title and that BIS will now review the existing and related rules.
Dr Lynne Sedgmore CBE, executive director of the 157 Group, said “This unexpected moratorium is difficult to understand, particularly in light of the government’s push towards more-higher level skills. There is no doubt that colleges provide courses that are of equal standard to universities, often providing more skills that can be taken into the workplace when students graduate. Colleges that offer these courses should be allowed to award degrees of equal standard in their own names.
“We believe that colleges have real potential to be the hubs of higher level technical education and this moratorium will do nothing to aid colleges who are already providing the skills and qualifications needed in their own communities, and nationally. If the push towards more higher level skills training is to continue, colleges must be allowed to award their own degrees in order to protect their own reputations in the future.
“We will be investigating these changes with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills immediately, as we know that many colleges will be going through the already complex process at the moment.”