UKCGE Chair announces Postgraduate courses face perfect storm’

On Thursday 23rd January 2014, Professor Mick Fuller delivered a significant keynote presentation The future of postgraduate education’ at a Westminster Higher Education Forum Event in London. 

UKCGE Chair announces Postgraduate courses face perfect storm’

Professor Fuller also Head of the Graduate School at Plymouth University, argued that Taught postgraduate courses are facing a perfect storm” caused by drops in student numbers and a fall in institution income. With institutions struggling to cross subsidise master’s provision because of the squeeze on undergraduate numbers, Professor Fuller announced that, for masters courses it is going to be turbulent, it is going to be unpredictable and it is going to be damaging, and for some it is going to be terminal’. 

Professor Sir Bob Burgess, UKCGE founding Chair and present Vice Chancellor at the University of Leicester, added that the supply in taught masters programmes had already become dangerously low’. He declared that we need to think about new ways to attract postgraduate students into higher education’. Challenging the sector to provide interventions and solutions’, Professor Burgess argued that part-time courses could be made available over ten years rather than two to add flexibility, for example. 

For a full list of other presentations made at the event, click here. To read the Times Higher Education report from the event click here. You can also access Professor Fuller’s presentation here.