Undergraduate degrees are not the only route through higher education, but our new report suggests information on different options can be hard to find. 
Progression pathways 2017 (1.56 MB) focuses on four main alternatives which give students the opportunity to achieve a bachelor’s degree in an incremental way – options which may better suit their learning styles, aspirations, or circumstances:
- foundation years, and degrees with foundation years
- foundation degrees
- Higher National Certificates (HNC) and Higher National Diplomas (HND)
- higher and degree level apprenticeships
Our comprehensive report provides a brief description of each pathway and its current status in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It takes into consideration the opportunities and challenges for students, apprenticeships, advisers, and further higher education providers – covering ‘access and availability’, ‘recognition and progression’, and ‘widening participation’.
Key findings
- There’s a welcome diversity of provision, but considerable change.
- These pathways support widening participation and access, offering an alternative to a three-year, full-time degree.
- There’s confusion about terminology, and a lack of robust evidence about outcomes for students pursuing different pathways.
- Prospective students, apprentices, and their advisers find it difficult to locate, compare, and evaluate different pathways and learning options.
- Each pathway has progression challenges which may not be apparent to students or apprentices before they embark on their programmes.
Find out more about Progression pathways 2017