Robert Gordon Uni axes first two years of degrees to save money

THE first two years of degree courses at a Scottish university have been axed in a unique move to save money and remove overlap in education.

• Robert Gordon claims its courses offer students greater flexibility. Photograph: Robert Gordon University

Undergraduate applicants to courses in building and photography at Robert Gordon University (RGU) in Aberdeen are turned away and told to complete an HNC qualification at Aberdeen College before they enter the third year at the university.

Previously universities have operated a system where successful HND or HNC candidates can enter the third year of a degree.

However, this is understood to be the first time the college course has fully replaced first and second year.

Rob Wallen, principal of Aberdeen College, said: "The 2+2 arrangements provide great flexibility for students - they do not need to commit to a four-year degree at the outset but can achieve a vocational HND qualification and then decide whether to take the two additional years to obtain a more academic degree qualification.

"They get two qualifications and therefore increase their employability.

"Critical in building the 2+2 partnership has been the shared commitment from both institutions to manage the point of transition from HND to degree year 3 - and the Robert Gordon University staff and our staff have worked very hard to ensure the transition is a smooth one."

The arrangement has received strong support from the Scottish Funding Council, which allocates government funding to both colleges and universities, and it could be followed up by other universities which are expecting major budget cuts in years to come.

Scottish Funding Council chairman John McClelland said: "This joint approach to the design of courses is vitally important and a great example of how partnerships between colleges and universities can add value to people's learning journeys.

"We very much welcome this kind of innovation and see it as the way forward for increasing choice and opportunity in further and higher education."

Mick Eason, course leader at Gray's School of Art, part of RGU, said the partnership allowed the students to get the best of both the practical skills at the college and the academic side at the university.

The move in the construction course was to do away with the overlap of having an HNC in the same subject as the RGU degree.

David McClean, head of the construction department at RGU, said: "The establishment of a strategic partnership between the two institutions has also been instrumental in facilitating arrangements of this kind, the principle benefit of which are flexibility of opportunity for students and clear pathways of study progression.

"The initiative has also served to eliminate duplication of curriculum provision, creating greater cohesion in the educational offering in the region, a move that has been warmly welcomed by industry."

In October 2007 Aberdeen College became an Associate College of RGU and entered into an agreement with the university to work more closely in partnership for the benefit of students, employers and local communities.

The agreement offers the college and the university scope to improve efficiency, effectiveness and to extend to students more flexible and easier access to higher education.

The partnership between Aberdeen College and RGU enables around 300 people each year to progress from a skills-based HNC or HND to a related degree at RGU.

Robert Gordon University is consistently ranked among the UK's top universities for graduate employment.

Statistics from Aberdeen College suggest it produces 11 per cent of all the students in Scotland who "articulate" directly to a degree course.

In 2009-10 a total of 501 people who had achieved a vocational Higher National Certificate or Higher National Diploma at Aberdeen College went on to year two or three of a related degree at one of Scotland's universities and a further 148 entered year one.

Of these 501 students, 305 progressed without conditions to Robert Gordon University to top up their vocational, skills-based qualification to an honours degree.

HNDs are two-year courses that are widely regarded as the equivalent of the first two years of a degree.

Robert Gordon's BA in Commercial Photography was the first such arrangement in Scotland, where the first year of university has given way to a college course.

It has been joined by the Bsc in Construction and Design Management this year.

n [email protected]