Universities will need to be ambitious about their graduate job targets, dropping out rates, apprenticeships, tutoring the disabled, and other areas.
They will face a fine if they fail to show that they help students get good jobs.
The move will stamp out ‘Mickey Mouse’ courses, which sound glamorous but do not lead to well-paid employment. It will be the first time universities are forced to take responsibility for where their students go, as part of the ‘levelling-up’ agenda.
It could mean the institutions lay on tutoring for pupils in schools and organise summer schools – even for those who do not intend to go into higher education.
Universities minister Michelle Donelan said the move was a ‘reboot’, adding: ‘Real social mobility isn’t just getting students to university.
‘It doesn’t get them anywhere if they just drop out after a year or if they complete with a degree that doesn’t unlock what they were hoping it would and lead to a good job.’
The move will stamp out ‘Mickey Mouse’ courses, which sound glamorous but do not lead to well-paid employment
She pointed to data showing that – at 25 universities – half of students ‘won’t be getting a good outcome’ due to dropping out or not going into a graduate job.
‘I don’t think that’s acceptable,’ she added. ‘I wouldn’t want that for my own children. I wouldn’t want that for the young people within my constituency.’
The Office for Students will be the watchdog for students and set the challenging targets.
Research shows that many universities with low rankings offer programs in areas that promise high earnings but low returns.
Or they will be punished.
To ‘level up the sector,’ the Government places more emphasis on graduates.
Measurement of progress can be done by looking at the percentage of graduates who are employed in graduate programs.
Officials would be sensitive to the type of subject – nursing is not a high-earning career but would still be considered a graduate job. Universities will be expected to ‘support’ students into jobs – by making sure courses are linked to skills and match employers’ needs.
OfS members will demand that Universities with high dropout rates make progress, as they fear not providing enough support to students in completing their degree.
The watchdog will tell more universities to offer degree apprenticeships, which allow students to ‘earn while they learn’ in a vocational subject.
As part of the announcement, there will also be an £8million fund to remove barriers to post-graduate research for black, Asian and minority ethnic students, with projects looking at admissions and targeted recruitment.