Universities are losing out on students and practice placements because of the higher bursaries and fees offered by fast-track providers, claim education leaders.
This was among the reasons cited by the Joint University Council Social Work Education Committee (JUCSWEC) for figures showing half of education providers missed their student intake target for 2021-22 and a similar proportion were struggling to find placements for their students.
The figures, released in January as part of Social Work England’s recent emerging themes report, are from the regulator’s annual monitoring survey of education providers, carried out last autumn.
Social Work England’s report did not put forward reasons for failures to meet student intake targets.
But JUCSWEC said the combination of the more generous bursaries offered by Frontline and Think Ahead compared with university master’s courses, and the government’s late announcement that it would be offering bursaries for 2021-22, deterred some potential students from applying to higher education institutions (HEIs). They also said some potential students had been put off by the ongoing uncertainty around Covid-19 and the lack of face-to-face teaching.
Placement struggles
The most common reason put forward by providers for struggling to find placements was a shortage of practice educators (34%), while 10% cited competition for placements between providers as a reason.However, while JUCSWEC also stressed the importance of practice educator shortages, it highlighted competition from fast-track providers as a key barrier to HEIs finding placements. Chair Janet Melville-Wiseman said that “fast-track programmes can pay a higher placement fee for their students and so local authorities will usually give priority to those students".
As Frontline and Think Ahead, whose trainees qualify in just over a year, use a different funding model to universities it is difficult to compare the financial impact for employers of taking a fast-track over a university student. Community Care was not able to source an employer who would directly support JUCSWEC’s claims.
One local government source did say that councils who had agreed to take a unit of Frontline or Think Ahead students would prioritise these before determining whether they could take students on placements.
Frontline declined to comment on the issue while Think Ahead said that most of its units of trainees were placed in NHS trust mental health teams, which means they should not affect the availability of local authority placements.
Student targets missed
Social Work England’s report revealed that 49% of course providers experienced lower student intake numbers than their target for 2021-22, whilst 40% said their intake was broadly the same as the target.These figures are not broken down by the type of education provider, but most respondents are likely to be HEIs as they account for the vast majority of courses.
Although the report did not set out reasons why most providers saw their student intake drop, JUCSWEC suggested it came down to fast-track courses’ superior bursary levels, the government’s late confirmation of bursaries for HEIs in 2021-22 and the ongoing impact of the pandemic.
“The sector has experienced low bursary levels for many years, particularly for postgraduate students on mainstream HEI delivered programmes, compared to the bursary funds available for students on fast-track programs,” said Melville-Wiseman, who is principal lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University.
Bursary comparison
At present, postgraduate students who do receive a bursary get a basic annual £3,762.50 in London and £3,362.50 outside the capital, plus a £4,052 contribution to tuition fees, which covers roughly half of teaching costs for the two-year programmes. These bursary levels have been frozen for seven years, meaning they are £500 lower in real terms than in 2014.While postgraduate students on lower incomes can also obtain an income-assessed bursary of up to £4,201 in London and up to £2,712 outside the capital, the total available falls far short of that offered by the fast-track courses to graduate students.
Think Ahead offers £17,200 outside London or £19,100 inside London, while Frontline participants receive £20,000 in London, and £18,000 outside. Step Up to Social Work, which is delivered by consortia of universities and employers over 14 months, offers £19,833 regardless of location; it did not run last year but its latest cohort has just started. For all three courses, there are no fees, and their students are guaranteed their bursaries, unlike for university courses, where most students receive a bursary but their number is capped.
Rapid rise in fast-track numbers
Over recent years, the number of students taking fast-track courses has increased massively, backed by increasing government funding, while those on traditional HEI courses has stagnated, shows data published by Skills for Care.Frontline grew from 155 starters in 2016 to 450 in 2021, Think Ahead from 95 in 2016 to 164 in 2021, and Step Up from 458 in 2016 to 686 in 2020. Meanwhile, 4,140 people enrolled on university undergraduate or postgraduate courses in 2018-19, down 12% on the previous year, following years of stable numbers.
Fast-track students have previously told Community Care that their decision to choose Think Ahead or Frontline was largely driven by the additional financial support, without which they would not have been able to train as a social worker.
Late bursary announcement
Also, while the government usually confirms the value and quantity of bursaries HEI programmes can offer in the upcoming academic year by the April before, it made the announcement for the 2021-22 in July last year, said Melville-Wiseman.This made it “impossible” for any applicants in employment to make their bursary application, wait for confirmation they had been successful and then give notice to their employer by the time their course started in September, reducing student numbers, she added.
This is not the first time that a late government bursary announcement has created uncertainty for students and universities. In 2016, prospective students reportedly pulled out of courses because of the delayed confirmation of bursaries.
Additionally, the pandemic also created “uncertainty for many prospective students”, including because of reduced face-to-face teaching, with some possibly choosing to delay entry to university “until there was a way forward,” said Melville-Wiseman.
