Higher fees for accelerated courses expected in 2019

Accelerated degrees commanding higher fees could come into force from the 2019-20 academic year, as the UK government pushes for regulation “as soon as possible”.

In its response to a consultation on accelerated degrees, which closed in February, the government said on 19 November that it wanted to see a rise in the number of students on accelerated degree programmes from less than 1 per cent of all students at present to 5 per cent in the next decade.

Accelerated degree courses are defined as courses that take one year less to complete than their non-accelerated counterparts, but which cover the same content. The idea was first proposed by the then universities and science minister Jo Johnson in December 2017, when he suggested universities could offer two-year degree courses for fees of £11,000 a year.