Government plans to introduce subject ratings for colleges risk “information overload” and confusing students with “potentially conflicting information,” according to John Widdowson, chair of the Mixed Economy Group of colleges offering HE.

Higher education institutions, including FE colleges that offer HE courses, will be judged on individual subjects in the latest development of the existing Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) system.

Proposals for the subject ratings, graded gold, silver or bronze, to help students make an informed choice of where to study were announced by universities minister Sam Gyimah last week.

He said: “Prospective students deserve to know which courses deliver great teaching and great outcomes - and which ones are lagging behind.”

One in eight colleges achieved the “gold” status for higher education teaching in the first set of TEF ratings published last year.

Under the government’s plans, outcomes such as graduate salaries, already considered as part of the existing ratings given to colleges, will also be taken into account for grading courses in specific subjects. HE institutions, including colleges with an HE offer, will receive both a provider-level rating and a rating for each subject they teach.

Too much information?

Students need the “best information they can get to make the right choice for them,” according to Mr Widdowson. But there are difficulties in linking the quality of teaching with graduate salaries and many HE students at colleges study for qualifications such as HNDs or foundation degrees, he said.

Mr Widdowson added: “Not only do income levels differ for the same jobs in different parts of the country, but many highly valued and rewarding occupations do not carry high levels of financial reward. There may be a real danger of information overload where prospective students actually get too much potentially conflicting information that confuses and makes their choice more difficult.”

His concerns were echoed by Arti Saraswat, senior policy manager at the Association of Colleges, who said: “Subject level TEF will provide students more information at a subject level however it can be complex for students to interpret the quality of teaching where the subject rating may be notably different from that of the provider rating.”

She added: “The next phase of TEF - results at subject level - is a positive development but we need to pilot them first and it will be tricky for some colleges because they have small numbers of HE students in some subjects and because there is a lot of work involved.”

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