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Educational studies as a discipline is now a feature in many British universities, but little research has been undertaken to explore what kinds of student choose the subject, how easily they access it or how they fare as undergraduate students. This article attempts to address this paucity of research by drawing on a selection of findings from a study undertaken with undergraduate students between 2004 and 2007. The study tracks the progress of a single cohort of students, some from vocational backgrounds and some from traditional academic backgrounds, on a full-time, three-year [Bachelor of Arts] BA Honours educational studies degree. The article initially provides a discussion relating to the historical place of educational studies as a subject for study at undergraduate level and suggests how this links to the British widening-participation agenda. This provides a context for the subsequent sections, which present a selection of findings from the three-year research project. The project was designed to explore the students' experiences by asking which of them were accepted to undertake the degree by admissions staff, how they fared on the degree and, critically, whether their pre-entry qualifications had an impact on their progress and success. This article provides some answers to these questions which suggest that admissions staff are more cautious in accepting vocational entry qualifications, but that the nature of these has little bearing on ultimate success on the degree. It concludes by suggesting how this knowledge might impact on information for potential applicants and on the selection of students in the future.

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The new English system of student finance seeks to resolve a higher education policy trilemma created by government's desire to switch more of the costs on to students, whilst seeking to promote both increased and widening participation. The rationale for this new funding system is based upon orthodox economic analysis which, the authors argue, rests upon inappropriate assumptions. Survey evidence from recent entrants is presented to support this critique and to question whether the current system can promote both informed student decision-making and widening participation.

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This consultation contains proposals to reshape the higher education landscape to have students at its heart. Its core aims are to raise teaching standards, provide greater focus on graduate employability, widen participation in higher education, and open up the sector to new high-quality entrants. This document sets out proposals for how the Government's manifesto commitment to introduce a Teaching Excellence Framework will deliver better value for money for students, employers and taxpayers. It also sets out plans to drive social mobility by further increasing higher education participation by those from disadvantaged and under-represented groups.

This consultation proposes a new single gateway for entry to the sector, which would create a common system for all providers. It sets out proposed new architecture for the higher education system, to reflect the way higher education is now funded by students, and to reduce the regulatory burden on the sector. Finally, this consultation considers the potential implications of these changes for the research landscape.

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This article examines the choice making behaviour, in relation to progression into and through higher education, of a small group of foundation degree students at a further education college in England. This study was conducted within the wider context of an evaluation of the impact of progression agreements within a Lifelong Learning Network and as such is influenced by other findings from the wider evaluation. The students interviewed, all of whom were high achievers at Level 3, nonetheless exhibited signs of having a tentative learner identity which constrained the choices they made in relation to progression into and through higher education. They also showed a marked reluctance to engage with formal methods of information, advice and guidance (IAG), preferring to rely on more informal sources. It is acknowledged that this is a small-scale study and as such needs to be treated as a case study rather than a generalisable piece of research. However, by comparing the initial themes emerging from the interviews with those of similar studies elsewhere in the UK (e.g. London, Scotland) it is hoped that the findings will be sufficient to provide some useful indications of the implications and impacts of some of the key activities of Lifelong Learning Networks, particularly progression agreements and IAG work.

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This white paper sets out the UK government's plans to reform the higher education and research system. In some cases these plans are subject to Parliament. The paper builds on the proposals consulted on in the earlier green paper, noting that the higher education landscape has changed fundamentally since the last major legislative reforms of 1992. The university system now needs important reform to fulfil its potential and to sustain its global standing.

The paper argues that higher education continues to be a sound financial and personal investment with a wide range of societal benefits. But there is more to be done for the university system to fulfil its potential as an engine of social mobility and a driver of economic growth. Access remains uneven, with young people from the most disadvantaged backgrounds 2.4 times less likely to go into higher education than the most advantaged. Courses are inflexible, based on the traditional three-year undergraduate model, with insufficient innovation and provision of two-year degrees and degree apprenticeships. Many students are dissatisfied with the provision they receive, with over 60 per cent of students feeling that all or some elements of their course are worse than expected and a third of these attributing this to concerns with teaching quality. Employers are suffering skills shortages, especially in high skilled [science, technology, engineering and mathematics] STEM areas; at the same time around 20 per cent of employed graduates are in non-professional roles three and a half years after graduating. While the graduate premium has remained substantial, even as student numbers have expanded rapidly in recent decades, recent research suggests there is large variation in graduate outcomes across both providers and subjects, and even for those that studied the same subject within the same provider.

The paper suggests that at the heart of this lies insufficient competition and a lack of informed choice. The measures outlined here will help ensure that everyone with the potential to benefit from higher study can access relevant information to help them make the right choices from a wide range of high quality universities and benefit from excellent teaching that supports their future productivity. By introducing more competition and informed choice into higher education, the government aims to deliver better outcomes and value for students, employers and taxpayers.

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The need to understand how prospective students decide which higher education institution to attend is becoming of paramount importance as the policy context for higher education moves towards market-based systems in many countries. This paper provides a novel methodology by which student preferences between institutions can be assessed, using the United Kingdom as a case study. It applies both revealed preference and discrete choice modelling techniques to estimate the priority attributes and potential trade-offs of students choosing between different UK universities. Whereas the former methodology has the advantage of being based on actual decisions, the latter provides an experimental setting for more nuanced findings to be elicited; the combination of approaches allows for a rich and detailed set of results. This methodology can also be used to ask detailed strategic questions of higher education institutions and further applied to other international markets.

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Higher education institutions operate in an increasingly competitive global market and require precise knowledge regarding the preferences of potential students. Traditional methods for evaluating what potential students look for in a degree tend to be descriptive, and while informative, do not assess the strength of students' preferences; how important they are relative to each other, and hence where efforts and investments may best be targeted. To do this, more statistically rigorous methods are required. [The authors] used a discrete choice experiment to estimate the relative importance of the attributes that inform student choice and also quantify these trade-offs in monetary terms using 'willingness to pay'. Using data from a UK postgraduate institution [the authors] illustrate how this method can be applied and can provide an accurate measure of student preferences as well as quantifying the trade-offs students are willing to make. [The authors'] results show that staff expertise, and flexibility of the teaching platform, were the attributes that students most highly value when choosing a postgraduate degree.

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The aim of the study is to discursively identify student teachers' perceptions of the teaching profession early in their education and their motives for this career choice. Students wrote a letter sharing thoughts on why they want to become a teacher, how they regard the teaching profession and if someone inspired them in their career choice. The empirical data consists of 259 student texts from three Swedish teacher education programmes. The study employed a qualitative method denoting different categorizations compared to previous studies, emphasising the idea of multiple motives for career choice and the link to student teachers' evolving pedagogical identity. Major differences can be distinguished among the programmes, emphasising different main motives and shifting incipient pedagogic identities. The results indicate the value of organising teacher education programmes drawing on multiple motives, which is expected to contribute positively to completion of teacher education and teacher retention in future profession.

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This document follows the publication of the Moments of Choice research report by The Careers & Enterprise Company which looked at how young people think about careers. The research found that career decisions present a high 'cognitive burden': many options and few ways to make sensible comparisons between them. As a result many young people disengage from thinking about their future. The research was commissioned to explore how better outcomes data could be used to inform career decisions but it raised broader issues that needed addressing. This document sets out [the author's] response to those issues and seeks comment and input from stakeholders.

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One of the Learning and Skills Councils's (LSC's) key priorities is to raise demand for learning amongst both adults and young people. Raising demand for, and participation in, learning and training will enable more people to enhance their employment and career prospects and to improve their quality of life. From 2008/09, new funding models have been introduced (demand-led funding) to ensure that money follows learner and employer choice. In the context of this fundamental move to a model of learning provision that is centred on choice and on the empowerment of learners to make effective decisions, it is important to gain a clearer understanding of how people make their choices in the learning and skills sector. The LSC therefore commissioned a research project to meet this need for greater understanding of choice and the empowered learner. The research need cuts across policies for both 14-19 and adult learning, and is also of interest to those involved in the development of advisory and guidance services and marketing campaigns. The research consisted of two separate strands, each with its own objectives: (1) understanding how adult learners (aged 19 and above) make informed choices, looking at: those who are considering embarking upon a learning programme; those who are currently studying a Pre-Level 2, Level 2, Level 3 vocational/ workbased or non-vocational classroom based course; those who are currently studying for pleasure or leisure (personal or community based) learning; and those who are not currently studying but who are open to the idea of learning; and (2) understanding how young people make choices in relation to their destinations following compulsory education, focusing on those aged 15-19, in particular: those studying A or AS Levels in school sixth forms and further education (FE) or sixth form college; those studying vocational or Apprenticeship schemes either through FE college or employers; those on Entry to Employment (E2E) provision; and those who have entered employment and are not currently in education. The experiences of these key targets were firstly explored qualitatively, to give a full and detailed understanding of the different experiences and then quantitatively, to support the qualitative findings.

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