Focus on Education

Prospective undergraduate students might be surprised to hear that the universities minister offered a £25,000 early Christmas present last week. Universities have been able to offer accelerated two year degrees for some time, but they have been limited in number at least in part because they were not allowed to charge more than the £9,250 fee limit. The new arrangement will allow them to charge close to £2,000 more per year and the students benefit with an overall saving on fees and living expenses and by having the opportunity to enter the job market earlier. While deviating from the traditional three year (or more) model may not be for everyone it seems likely that we will see a wider range of accelerated degrees on offer in the years ahead. Please click here to read more about this on the Guardian website.