UK vice-chancellor calls for reduction of undergraduate degrees to 2 years

….casued by widening participation, student outcomes and financial sustainability

 

Anthony Finkelstein, president of City St George’s, University of London, has called for a major rethink of the structure of university education, proposing that most undergraduate degrees should be shortened to two years as part of a broader reform of the sector.

According to him, the model no longer reflects the realities of modern higher education.

His proposal comes at a time when universities across the UK are grappling with questions about access, funding pressures, graduate outcomes and the future direction of higher education.

In a recent post, Finkelstein suggested replacing the current model with a “two plus two” system, where students complete a two-year bachelor’s degree followed by an optional two-year master’s programme for those who choose to continue their studies.

According to him, the existing three-year structure is not necessarily based on enduring academic principles. “The present model is not the product of timeless academic wisdom,” Finkelstein wrote. “It is largely an historical artefact, a structure that emerged under very different economic, social and institutional conditions.”

Read also: UK may crackdown on ‘debt trap’ university degrees

Rethinking the structure of university education

Finkelstein argues that much of the debate about higher education reform has focused on issues such as widening participation, student outcomes and financial sustainability, while the fundamental structure of the undergraduate degree itself has received far less attention.

“There has been a great deal of discussion about the current challenges in higher education,” he said, “but relatively little of this debate concerns the more basic matter of what we actually teach and how that teaching is organised.”

Under his proposed system, a two-year undergraduate degree could deliver the same academic content currently taught across three years, but in a more concentrated and structured format.

He pointed out that most UK bachelor’s degrees currently include around 27 weeks of teaching in both the first and second years and about 25 weeks in the final year, adding up to roughly 79 weeks of teaching in total.

By contrast, a two-year programme with 40 teaching weeks each year would provide approximately 80 weeks of instruction, covering similar academic ground but in a more continuous way. Finkelstein also suggested that educational technology could help make teaching and learning more efficient.

Read also:

Supporters of such reforms argue that shorter undergraduate degrees could reduce both the financial burden and time commitment associated with university education. This could ease the financial burden associated with the high cost of paying tuition fees at the rate set for international students.

Finkelstein believes the approach could help widen participation and enable students to begin their careers sooner. “It would lower both the time and financial barriers associated with undergraduate degrees,” he said, adding that the model could also encourage universities to rethink teaching methods and place greater emphasis on practical, applied and experiential learning.

Although the proposal may appear bold, Finkelstein argues that the UK system is already unusual by international standards.

For example, in the United States, undergraduate degrees typically last four years, while in many parts of Europe the standard model involves a three-year bachelor’s followed by a two-year master’s degree. In Scotland, most undergraduate programmes already run for four years.

Against this backdrop, Finkelstein noted that a two-year bachelor’s followed by a two-year master’s would simply represent another way of organising the same volume of higher education.