A Which? report has revealed that English higher education needs to be “a stronger regulator to protect students” paying higher fees, after a survey found students aren’t receiving “value for money.”
In 2010, despite a mass student protest in Central London, the Coalition announced they would be changing the tuition fee laws in order to give English universities the ability to charge £9,000 a year for new students starting in September 2012.
Which? conducted four surveys under a report titled, ‘A degree of value: value for money from the student perspective,’ in order to establish whether or not students believe that their fees represent value for money, two years after the higher limits were brought in.
An engineering student at London South Bank University, who didn’t want to be named said: “The teaching is rubbish, the teachers are not helping us. As an external degree, students need a lot of help. It’s a very messed up university and the course overall isn’t that great, so it’s not worth £9,000, especially when you can find colleges in London, that are much better and can get extended courses for £2,000 or something.”
The view of the South Bank student seem to be mirrored in the Which? report that found three in ten undergraduates say “their experience was poor value” and 35 per cent of graduates saying “that they are unlikely to have attended university faced with higher fees.”
The report also showed that only 45 per cent of respondents said lectures were generally worth attending.
