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‘Tertiary’ is a wide-ranging term used increasingly by policymakers and commentators as a panacea for a future post-16 education and training system in England (Hazelkorn, 2023). What could this mean in practice?

Over recent decades, to meet the challenges of funding excellence and widening participation, England has encouraged an assortment of hierarchically differentiated institutions serving different needs and populations, funded accordingly. This laissez-faire approach has generated a patchwork of further education and training (FET) colleges and other providers, plus schools and universities, public and private.

On the plus side, this offers huge diversity, facilitating an educational marketplace driven by student choice. But vertical differentiation is clouded by socioeconomic stratification, intersectional inequalities and institutional mission indistinctiveness. The system is hugely fragmented, leaving learners bewildered as to how various parts fit together and each institution pursuing its own ambitions with little coherence or joined-up value for society or the taxpayer.

���������, most countries share the objectives for an equitable, accessible, efficient and high-quality system which underpins sustainable economic growth. Governing and funding a post-16 system in which, however, is very different from a system catering ).

‘Dual-mission institutions may be helpful, but they can lead to vocational education being swallowed up by universities, especially when the traditional student demographic is declining.’

For some people, ‘tertiary’ is simply a synonym for higher education (HE). Others foresee limited objectives, such as encouraging learners to enrol in FET to prevent over-expansion/participation in universities. Dual-study programmes and bilateral arrangements are a positive development, but they risk reinforcing the traditional hierarchy of institutions, knowledge, learners and funding. Likewise, dual-mission institutions may be helpful, but they can lead to vocational education being swallowed up by universities, especially when the traditional student demographic is declining.

A more progressive, even radical approach, envisages a dynamic and inclusive tertiary ecosystem, comprising horizontally mission-differentiated institutions (Millward, 2023). A unified tertiary system envisages that irrespective of where learners – of all ages, circumstances and abilities – enter/re-enter FET, HE or a research career, they experience a single integrated system with a network of learning pathways, which responds to individual talents, ambitions and motivations, and societal needs.

‘A unified tertiary system envisages that irrespective of where learners enter/re-enter FET, HE or a research career, they experience a single integrated system.’

An early innovator, New Zealand brought all universities, polytechnics, wānanga and private providers plus counselling under the remit of the ). and Wales are moving in a similar direction, the latter having created . created the ministry of further/higher education, research, innovation and science, while the proposes a Tertiary Education Commission.

Steps to think about (Hazelkorn & Boland, 2023):

• Single national qualifications framework amalgamating general/vocational  (Regulated Qualifications Framework [RQF]) qualifications and higher education (Framework for Higher Education Qualifications [FHEQ]), underpinned by an integrated quality assurance system reinforcing a co-ordinated approach to quality.
• Credit accumulation and transfer system facilitating learners of all ages and abilities to progress by building credits and credentials over time and carrying them from one programme, or one institution, or form of education and training, to another.
• Guided and navigable learning pathways to provide clear understanding and support to learners, parents and employers of the knowledge/skills each programme provides, how it will support learners in acquiring those, suitable for different educational levels and associated employment opportunities, underpinned by an independent well-resourced careers service.
• Vision and governance are key to guide policy over the medium/long term in harmony with social, educational and economic objectives. A single regulatory agency, regional clusters and a tertiary commission are different approaches (each with pluses/minuses) to ensure greater coherence and co-ordination across policy and government with no underlying discriminations between further and higher education for learners, institutions and funding.
• New funding model is especially critical as it begets the system. Currently, it encourages institutions to compete individually and discourages collective collaboration.
• The regional dimension is key given ‘the scale of the nation’ and huge disparities (Morris, 2024). This requires building capability in the nine English regions to smartly grasp opportunities of specialisations, and maximise the interdependence between knowledge and skills, and economic growth and innovation (Hazelkorn & Edwards, (2019). Good governance, underpinned by strategic vision and sustainable arrangements, to harness collective capacity across the ecosystem of colleges/universities, large employers/SMEs and other regional actors, is essential – without which it will be impossible to overcome challenges facing lagging regions and move into the high-skill quadrant (Barzotto et al., 2019). Supportive national policy is important.

Without reform there is a risk that England’s system will fail to contribute to social and economic objectives and individual needs and ambitions, and England will face losing competitive advantage to more reform-minded systems.

References

Barzotto, M., Corradini, C., Fai, F. M., Labory, S., & Tomlinson, P. R. (Eds.). (2019). Revitalising lagging regions: Smart specialisation and industry 4.0 (1st ed.). Routledge.

Hazelkorn, E. (2023). Is it time to rethink our model of post-secondary education? (Working paper no. 89). Centre for Global Higher Education.

Hazelkorn, E. & Boland T. (2023). Progressing a unified tertiary system for learning, skills and knowledge. BH Associates. ;

Hazelkorn, E., & Edwards, J. (2019). Skills and smart specialisation: The role of vocational education and training in smart specialisation strategies. European Commission.

Millward, C. (2023, December 12). What does the tertiary turn in higher education policy mean in practice?  Wonkhe Blog.

Morris, H. (2024). What is meant by the term tertiary education? Past developments and recent activity. Policy Reviews in Higher Education, 8(2), 122–145.