Prelims

Half Title Page

A Brief History of Credit in UK Higher Education

Series Page

Great Debates in Higher Education is a series of short, accessible books addressing key challenges to and issues in Higher Education, on a national and international level. These books are research informed but debate driven. They are intended to be relevant to a broad spectrum of researchers, students, and administrators in higher education, and are designed to help us unpick and assess the state of higher education systems, policies, and social and economic impacts.

Published titles:

Teaching Excellence in Higher Education: Challenges, Changes and the Teaching Excellence Framework

Edited by Amanda French and Matt O’Leary

British Universities in the Brexit Moment: Political, Economic and Cultural Implications

Mike Finn

Sexual Violence on Campus: Power-Conscious Approaches to Awareness, Prevention, and Response

Chris Linder

Higher Education, Access and Funding In International Perspective

Edited by Sheila Riddell, Sarah Minty, Elisabet Weedon and Susan Whittaker

Evaluating Scholarship and Research Impact: History, Practices, and Policy Development

Jeffrey W. Alstete, Nicholas J. Beutell and John P. Meyer

Access to Success and Social Mobility Through Higher Education: A Curate’s Egg?

Edited by Stuart Billingham

The Marketisation of English Higher Education: A Policy Analysis of a Risk-Based System

Colin McCaig

Refugees in Higher Education: Debate, Discourse and Practice

Jacqueline Stevenson and Sally Baker

Radicalisation and Counter-Radicalisation in Higher Education

Catherine McGlynn and Shaun McDaid

Cultural Journeys in Higher Education: Student Voices and Narratives

Jan Bamford and Lucy Pollard

Perspectives on Access to Higher Education

Sam Broadhead, Rosemarie Davis and Anthony Hudson

Degendering Leadership in Higher Education

Barret Katuna

Title Page

A Brief History of Credit in UK Higher Education: Laying Siege to the Ivory Tower

By

WAYNE TURNBULL

Liverpool John Moores University, UK

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Howard House, Wagon Lane, Bingley BD16 1WA, UK

First edition 2020

Copyright © Wayne Turnbull, 2020. Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

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No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. No responsibility is accepted for the accuracy of information contained in the text, illustrations or advertisements. The opinions expressed in these chapters are not necessarily those of the Author or the publisher.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83982-171-4 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83982-168-4 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83982-170-7 (Epub)

Dedication Page

“There should be no freezing of institutions into established hierarchies; on the contrary there should be recognition and encouragement of excellence wherever it exists.

If it is true that certain differences of level and function must be expected to persist among institutions, it is also true that such a structure can only be morally acceptable if there are opportunities for the transfer of a student from one institution to another when this is appropriate to his or her intellectual attainments and educational needs.

We attach great importance to this”.

Higher education: Report of the Committee appointed by the Prime Minister under the chairmanship of Lord Robbins 1961–63.

Contents

Foreword

I first came across the concept of utilising credit to transform education in 1979. I was a lecturer in a FE college in Manchester that was introducing new programmes and I was fortunate to be at a workshop with Aubrey Black (Manchester Open College Federation).

The work of the inspiring Open College Networks and the drive of the Council of National Academic Awards meant that there was an education revolution with Adult, Further Education and the Polytechnics in the 1980s and 1990s. For the first time, we were able to discuss how we could reward learning in a mix of settings and to develop progression routes that enabled learners from outside the traditional frameworks to succeed.

Nelson Mandela said ‘Education is the most powerful weapon you can use to change the world’. The credit movement used credit to change the educational framework so that it was more meaningful and inclusive.

Education providers came together across the UK, Europe and learned from experiences in the USA and Australia. Consortiums and partnerships were created to enable and engage in discussions around credit and how it could be used to open opportunities and to reward achievement.

This book tells the story of the journey of the development of credit. The journey is not finished and there is much still to do. This book though is excellent at showing how we have collectively shaped and changed the educational horizon through the simple concept of linking learning and recognition.

It is the definitive study of credit.

Professor Geoff Layer

Vice-Chancellor

University of Wolverhampton, UK

17 May 2019

Acknowledgements

The author is indebted to the critical friends who have generously given their time, shared their extensive knowledge and commented on drafts of this book. Thanks are due to Phil Margham, Peter Toyne and Rob Ward who all consented to be interviewed and whose contribution to the history of credit in UK higher education deserves full and formal recognition. Thanks are also due to Mark Atlay and to Peter Wilson for their correspondence, which illuminated areas of credit policy and practice beyond the author’s expertise. Every effort has been taken to correctly convey these expert accounts to the reader and any errors of fact or failings of accuracy are entirely those of the author.

The author is further indebted to the Northern Universities Consortium for sponsoring the development of this book and to both Paul Bridges and David Robertson whose research, analysis and publications have provided much of the material reviewed herein. Their (very different) approaches to advancing credit policy and practice may have met with varying degrees of success but there is no doubting their standing as giants in the credit community, from whose shoulders we are able to see further.