On 19 February, UK Prime Minister Theresa May announced a major review of the tertiary system of the United Kingdom. The aim is to make sure that the tertiary education system truly gives a chance to all students, including those coming from disadvantaged backgrounds, and that all students be put in the situation to develop the skills that the market need - regardless of being enrolled in a technical, vocational or academic course.
The post-18 education review will be carried out by a panel composed by independent experts from the education, business and academia sectors and it will be chaired by Philip Augar (non-executive director of the Department for Education). The review will focus on:
- ways to better tutor students in their path choice after school;
- looking at how students actually fund their studies;
- enabling people from all backgrounds to succeed in their further education;
- making future economic projections to make sure that the skills required by the market are actually developed by the students.
The review will be concluded in early 2019.
For what concerns the proposals launched in January regarding two-years accelerated degree (for which consultations where supposed to run until February), the press interprets the government’s silence as a sign that proposal has been dropped and the situation will remain unchanged.
