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New British Academy report shows degree course cold spots across the UK
Our friends at the British Academy (BA) have produced a hard-hitting new report which shows that financial difficulties or strategic choices in our universities have led to large swathes of the UK becoming cold spots for social sciences, humanities and arts degrees.
What are the implications and why does this matter?
More students than ever are choosing to study close to home – some 56% of undergraduates in 2023/24. Historically underrepresented or disadvantaged students are more likely to opt to study locally, so the disappearance of degree opportunities (especially on a regional scale) risks deepening inequalities and will impact the strength of local economies.
So, where are the cold spots?
Perhaps unsurprising the cold spots (defined as no courses being available within a commutable distance) have emerged in historically underserved regions including rural or coastal areas in the north, south-west, and east of England and large parts of Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
This is seen as being a direct result of cuts in course offerings by teaching-focussed universities who have tended to serve less mobile or disadvantaged students.
The BA is sounding the alarm on the risks to Modern Foreign Languages, Linguistics, Anthropology and Classics in particular. And if nothing is done, English, Drama and History could be next in line.
What is the state of play for Politics & IR?
The PSA collaborated with the BA on a ‘deep dive’ into provision in Politics and IR which was published in January. This drew upon the BA’s SHAPE mapping tool which allows you to search and see results in a number of criteria including subject provision across the UK. Here is a screenshot for Politics:
These resources show the overall provision is still pretty strong for our discipline, but some cold spots are developing along similar lines to the BA’s report conclusions especially in the very northwest of England and Scotland.
What is the BA calling for? What could be done?
Having a higher education sector shaped by student competition and short-term financial concerns in our universities has raised the sceptre of a return to a degree being the preserve of the elite. Surely this is not desirable socially or politically as well as being something of an ‘own goal’ in terms of social capital, knowledge creation, and economic development.
The BA’s take is that how we fund, regulate, and run UK Higher Education isn’t working and that urgent government action and intervention is needed before it’s too late: The BA is calling specially for:
- Consideration of this issue in the expected post-16 education White Paper
- Greater oversight of regional provision and funding especially for at risk courses by HE regulators, and
- Universities to be enabled to collaborate across regions and nations to sure up the opportunities for all the study what and where they want to.