The supply of part-time higher education in the UK

This report explores the supply of part-time higher education in the UK, with particular consideration to the study of part-time undergraduate provision in England. It is the final publication in the series of reports on individual student markets that were commissioned by Universities UK following the publication of the reports on the Future size and shape of the higher education sector in 2008/09. It considers the factors facilitating and inhibiting the supply and growth of undergraduate part-time higher education. The study charts the scale and nature of both the undergraduate and postgraduate part-time student population in the UK and maps the geography of part-time higher education, highlighting regions with high and low levels of part-time provision. It includes case studies of 15 English universities located in regions with high and low levels of provision. The case studies aim to explain the regional distribution of part-time undergraduate courses and to understand the external and internal factors that promote and hinder part-time undergraduate higher education. The final section examines part-time student funding and finances and explains why the present arrangements represent an important barrier to the development of this market