Universities to offer shorter degree courses for higher fees

Universities will be allowed to offer two year degree courses but with higher fees under new government plans.

The two-year courses will cost more per year than their longer equivalents, with fees as much as £13,500 a year, subject to Parliamentary approval but overall the cost would be equivalent to a longer course.

Shorter courses will save students money on housing and living expenses because of the year of less studying.

Students would have to work more intensely for their qualification, while their holidays would be significantly shorter than their peers paying up to £9,000 a year on three or four-year degrees.

Universities minister Jo Johnson said: "Students are crying out for more flexible courses, modes of study which they can fit around work and life, shorter courses that enable them to get into and back into work more quickly, and courses that equip them with the skills that the modern workplace needs.

"I absolutely recognise that for many students the classic three-year residential model will remain the preferred option.

"But it clearly must not be the only option."

If the plans are successful, it would be the first rise to tuition fees since 2012 when the coalition government nearly tripled the cap in England from £3,290.