UCL gives evidence to House of Lords Select Committee

The inquiry, conducted by Sub-Committee I under the chairmanship of Lord Willis of Knaresborough, aimed to investigate whether the number of STEM students and graduates is sufficient to meet the needs of industry, the research base, and other sectors, and whether they are of a high enough quality.

Professor Bogle appeared as a witness at the final evidence session of the enquiry alongside Professor Clifford Friend, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Cranfield University and Professor Andrew George, Director of the Graduate School and the School of Professional Development, Imperial College London.

Their session focused on funding for students and universities for postgraduate courses, provision and take-up of courses by home and overseas students, as well as quality measures for professional and research masters and doctoral programmes.

In his opening introduction, Professor Bogle said: "I particularly welcome this focus on postgraduate matters, which I do not think have been properly looked at in the past, particularly as regards masters degrees.

"Our concerns are about students being able to support themselves through masters degrees, the lack of any support for them, how that might affect disadvantaged students from poorer backgrounds with their increased loans and the fact that so many professions now require a masters degree for entry, which means that there is a real problem about access to the professions."

A video of the full session can be viewed below.

Links:

Higher Education in STEM - Uncorrected Evidence (24 April 2012)
UCL Graduate School