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Part-Time, Distance & Flexible Study in Higher Education #ptstudy
23 Oct 2012
Broadcast from London

Headline Speakers

The decision by the Coalition government to extend loans to the majority of part-time students has been widely welcomed, although the significant cuts to the teaching grant has meant that most institutions have significantly increased their fees, albeit many students are eligible to take these out as a loan.

This will be the first major occasion to consider the implications of recent higher education policy changes on part-time provision. The first UCAS application figures under the new funding regime show a dramatic drop in applications from mature students, many of whom will have studied part-time previously. Given that nearly four in ten students in UK are part-time, it is a vital and still often overlooked segment of our higher education population, with a growing focus on 18 year olds now considering part-time as their first choice mode of study.

More widely, the higher education sector continues to go through a period of rapid reform. Although the framework for this change is less clear as the Coalition have indicated that there will not be any major legislation following the White Paper published in June 2011. But providers of higher education are looking to find new ways to deliver in more flexible ways, in line with demand from an increasingly diverse student population.

Programme
09:50
Aaron Porter, Consultant and Journalist
Welcome and introduction

10:00
Professor Claire Callender, Professor of Higher Education Policy, Birkbeck & Institute of Education, University of London
A changing landscape of financial support for part-time students and the benefits of part-time study

10:20
Pam Tatlow, Chief Executive, million+
Delivering on the lifelong learning agenda

10:40
Will Swann, Director, Students, Open University
A new era for flexible higher education – delivering on the student experience

11:00
Questions and discussion: Session 1
11:15
Break
11:45
David Wilkinson, Senior Research Fellow, National Institute of Economic and Social Research (NIESR)
Employability and part-time students

12:05
Jackie Dunne, Director of Lifelong Learning, University of Leicester & Honorary Secretary, Universities Association for Lifelong Learning (UALL)
Building community and employer links to aid flexible learning

12:25
Leslie Currie, Senior Project Officer, Supporting Professionalism in Admissions Programme
Recruitment and admissions to part-time and flexible programmes

12:45
Questions and discussion: Session 2
13:00
Break
14:00
Tricia King, Pro Vice Master for the Student Experience, Birkbeck, University of London
Delivering a high quality experience for part-time students from first point of contact to joining the alumni

14:20
Rachel Wenstone, Vice-President Higher Education, National Union of Students (NUS)
Engaging with part-time students

14:40
Dr Kate Mahoney, Effective Researcher and Action Learning Sets Co-ordinator and Trainer, University of Warwick; Midlands Hub Manager, Vitae
Understanding the part-time researcher experience

15:00
Questions and discussion: Session 3
15:15
Key Issue Seminar: Employer involvement in design and delivery of part-time higher education
Brenda Little, Higher Education Consultant

15:45
End of broadcast