Foundation Degree Task Force Report to Ministers

Foundation Degrees represent both an opportunity and a challenge. The opportunity is to create a new type of provision meeting the need for a high quality, intermediate, vocational higher education qualification. The challenge is to produce it through partnership, developing effective work-based learning and integration with the existing qualification system. Participating in the work of the Task Force has been a wonderful learning experience for me and I’m sure for my colleagues. As a former Vice Chancellor I am reasonably aware of the opportunities and challenges which Foundation Degrees provide for higher education institutions. As our work proceeded I began to appreciate the perspectives of other partners. Further Education colleges are also providers of Foundation Degrees but they bring a different range of experiences than universities. Employers seeking to develop their workforce have needs which drive their perception of what Foundation Degrees should provide. Regional Development Agencies are looking for ways to regenerate the economies of their region. The funding bodies and government have their own imperatives. This mixture created Task Force discussions which were lively, engaging and informed. We learnt from eac