Hundreds of thousands of prospective students will be handed more choice than ever before over what they can study at university with the expansion of two-year degrees, the Universities Minister has announced today (Sunday 18 November), which will encourage new providers into the market and help students fast-track their way into the workforce.

It follows a consultation on the proposal to roll out shorter university courses – also known as accelerated degrees – creating an unprecedented level of choice and flexibility for people wanting to study in higher education, particularly mature students.

The UK higher education system is world-renowned, with four universities in the world’s top ten, and 18 in the top 100. Today’s announcement will build upon our world-class system by widening choice and creating more diversity for all students choosing to study at one of our institutions – part of the government’s drive to provide greater value for money for students.

The move will not just enable students on all such courses to graduate one year faster compared to standard degrees, but it will come as a welcome boost for businesses who will be able to access talented graduates a year earlier – most notably, but not limited to, subjects such as accountancy, financial management and law where accrediting bodies are developing accelerated courses for rapid graduate employment. Accelerated degrees are also expected to be made available for the vast majority of other courses too.

Accelerated degrees meet exactly the same quality assurance measures as standard degrees and will provide exactly the same level of qualification. For example, a two-year accelerated degree will condense 3-year degrees with 30 weeks teaching into 2 years with 45 weeks teaching.

As part of the consultation response, Sam Gyimah has also given the green light to new fees for accelerated courses. Students who opt for a two-year degree will save at least 20 per cent (£5,500) in total tuition costs compared to a standard three-year course. The new fee limits set out in the government’s response to the consultation, which will be published tomorrow, will be subject to parliamentary approval.

Universities Minister Sam Gyimah said:

Innovative solutions and ground-breaking opportunities remain the driving force behind our higher education system. We have created a successful, world-class system but this is all about making it even better.

Accelerated degrees not only make it possible for the next generation of students to access higher education and the undeniable financial, academic and personal benefits it has to offer, but drives the sector to offer dynamic choices that serve students’ needs.

Providers will be able to tap into a new market of students, particularly mature students, who were previously locked out of higher education. This provision creates a new arena of competition that delivers for students, taxpayers and employers.

Verity Davidge, Head of Education and Skills Policy at EEF, The Manufacturers’ Organisation said:

For manufacturers facing acute skills shortages, accelerated degrees widen the graduate talent pool, they are faster and also ensure sought after STEM graduates are able to enter the labour market more quickly. These degrees will also be attractive to learners, who will find themselves with less student debt – resulting in a much needed boost in supply to industry.

With manufacturing moving at pace through investment in new digital technologies and techniques, these new channels of learning are both timely and needed to ensure current and new employees are able to gain the skills they need for the future.

Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of the Office for Students, said:

The Office for Students is committed to promoting greater diversity, choice and value for money in higher education. We want to encourage the development of new and alternative high quality provision that responds to students’ needs and preferences.

Accelerated degrees offer students from all backgrounds the possibility of studying over a shorter period of time, at a lower overall cost compared with a standard three-year course. For many, they are likely to be an attractive option.

We look forward to seeing the impact of the new fee limit on student choice and diversity of provision across the country, and we will be working with students, universities and colleges, the government and other partners to support the wider delivery of these degrees.

Although the proposals allow institutions to charge up to 20 per cent more per year for accelerated degrees (in recognition of the increased teaching time required), the overall tuition fee cost of the 2-year accelerated degree to the student is 20 per cent less than the same degree over three years.

The 20 per cent increase per year will allow providers to support higher in-year costs for accelerated provision, such as tuition weeks over the summer and administrative staff pay and capital overheads.

For the taxpayer, it means significantly lower tuition loan outlay, higher rates of repayment and therefore a lower cost to the public purse of higher education. A higher proportion of students on accelerated degrees will also repay their loans in full.

There has been historic cross-party support for this policy, from Shirley Williams in the 1960s, to Labour spokesman Lord Stevenson, Roberta Blackman-Woods, Lord Liddle and Lord Watson who all supported it in the passage of the Higher Education and Research Bill.

Statement by Ambassador Karen Pierce, UK Permanent Representative to the United Nations, at the Security Council Briefing on Yemen

Thank you very much Mr President and thank you very much to our four briefers.

I don’t think I’ve ever heard a more powerful set of briefings and please in the Security Council than those that we’ve heard from the four of you today. And I think your words and requests will reverberate round the Council. So far the Council has very much been united in its support of the UN’s work in Yemen and we look to that to continue.

I think as well there’s obviously a very clear joined-up partnership between the three UN Heads and I think that also is very important. And if there is any light to be found in this awful crisis, I think it lies in your willingness to speak out, your willingness to work really closely with each other, the dedication of you and your teams and that of civil society to helping the people of Yemen and obviously that must be one of the things that the Council has at the forefront of its mind.

As you have described, it’s a truly appalling situation on the ground and the severity of the humanitarian catastrophe can’t be overstated. Regardless of the hard work that’s needed to redouble efforts in response to the humanitarian need – and we take everything that was said about the commercial needs in order to keep Yemen functioning – it’s also clear that we are not going to succeed, you are not going to succeed, without an equal effort and commitment on the political track. And once again it bears repeating that only a political solution will actually bring this dreadful conflict to an end.

We heard some small positive steps from Martin today, particularly around the Central Bank, exchange of prisoners. We heard some good news on the UN’s conference next year. I think that’s very important. But we have to bear in mind the very sobering descriptions that David Beasley gave us of what life is like for ordinary people, including children. I think I just want to take the opportunity now to say that we very much agree with what the Special Envoy said about getting the parties together without preconditions.

We do need the words that we’ve heard to be put into concrete action. We do need the parties to engage with the Special Envoy to take part in the consultations that Martin is setting up and to engage constructively so that ultimately we can pave the way, Martin can pave the way, for a resumption of formal negotiations. And I think Martin what you said about bringing your framework back to the Council is very welcome and also very important, and I’m sure that all members of the Council will want to express their support for all three of your strands of work for the UN today, but particularly for the political track. I think it’s obviously vital that talks are inclusive, that women are properly included. I think the women’s technical advisory service is a very good step in that direction; it’s good that you’re looking for modern ways to put that into practice. And I think the messages from Rashad Charkhan have been incredibly important today. So thank you very much to Rashan and for taking the time to come and explain to the Council how it looks from the citizens of Yemen.

My Foreign Secretary was in the region earlier this week because, like Martin and I think the rest of the you, we do believe there is a window of opportunity to tackle this manmade crisis in Yemen. I just want to emphasise the manmade bit. What men have created men can resolve. So I think that’s another reason for all possible effort to be put behind the political track. David Beasley exhorted us to act now. I don’t think there’s anyone who can have failed to have been moved by what you, David, and what you Rashad told us. Jeremy Hunt, my Foreign Secretary, has announced that we will work with Security Council partners. Mark gave us a very important state of play on his five asks. Speaking for the United Kingdom, we support all of those five asks. Jeremy Hunt has therefore asked us to say that as penholder we will bring a draft text resolution to partners on the Security Council on Monday with the intention of putting Mark’s five asks, which you all endorse, which I think is really important point, putting all of Mark’s five asks into practice.

Thank you very much Mr President.

Thank you Mr President and may I thank all our briefers for sharing their assessment of progress in South Sudan following their visit. And it’s important and welcome to see such joint UN-AU activity.

Mr President, the signing of the revised Peace Agreement in September was a significant moment in the peace process and let me again publicly take the opportunity to welcome this important step taken by the Parties. We also applaud the role of the region. The deal would not have been agreed without the work of IGAD – in particular, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Kenya – and we welcome their engagement in monitoring progress and holding the parties to account for implementing the agreement. If I’ve understood the Ethiopian ambassador correctly, let me also welcome IGAD’s intention to approach the United Nations and the Security Council to discuss any proposal to deploy troops in support of the agreement.

As our briefers have made clear, some significant progress has been made since the revised Peace Agreement was signed, which we warmly welcome. In particular, the establishment of key transitional bodies, the return of Riek Machar and other opposition leaders to Juba for the Peace Day celebrations, the release of some prisoners, and the holding of National Pre-Transitional Committee meetings are all to be welcomed. I was struck by the Swedish Ambassador’s comment about the tangible sense of hope that he perceived when there. Everything we do must be to sustain that hope.

So despite this promising start, we remain concerned that several fundamental provisions of the Agreement are yet to be implemented and the timeframes set out in the Agreement are being missed.

We are deeply concerned by the reports of continued violence, in particular around Wau and Yei, which threaten to undermine the Agreement and violate the commitments made by all parties in the Cessation of Hostilities, numerous ceasefire agreements, and in the revised Peace Agreement.

We are also concerned that UNMISS and CTSAMM are being denied access to areas, such as south of Wau, to carry out their work including to monitor implementation of the ceasefire as mandated by the UN Security Council and IGAD.

Secondly, we have yet to see the full and unfettered humanitarian access that has been repeatedly promised. This has improved in some areas. But elsewhere obstructions continue, including around Greater Baggari, where access was denied for several months earlier this year and has recently been blocked again, and where we know there are people in famine-like conditions. Bureaucratic obstructions also continue, including taxes and fees that divert tens of millions of dollars from providing food, water or shelter for the most vulnerable in South Sudan. We call on the Government of South Sudan to introduce a temporary waiver from income taxes for international staff of humanitarian and development organisations, as well as a waiver from other taxes, fees and permit costs and fees, for as long as the current acute humanitarian crisis continues. And we call on the Opposition to cease attempts to impose illegal charges. As of September 2018, the World Food Programme assessed that 6.1 million people – over half of the population – are facing severe food insecurity. The humanitarian community is in South Sudan as a life-saver, not a revenue-raiser.

Third, more must be done to ensure that the Peace Agreement is supported across South Sudanese society. This includes increasing the transparency of government revenue so that the people of South Sudan can see that this is used for their benefit. It should also include respecting fundamental rights and basic freedoms, including freedom of expression, opening civic space and releasing those political detainees that remain in detention.

To build confidence in the Peace Agreement Mr President, implementation must be truly inclusive. We welcome the focus of the visit on women’s participation. I found the words of the Executive Director of UN Women particularly important in this in our briefing today. I particularly noted her comments on security institutions and the need to end gender-based violence and around representation. And we know that that female involvement in peace processes makes them much more likely to be sustained. This is in everybody’s interest, Mr President.

Tackling impunity will also be essential to building confidence in the peace process and to preventing future grave violations. We call on the Government of South Sudan to sign the MoU with the African Union to establish the Hybrid Court, to ensure perpetrators are held to account for their appalling crimes.

Mr President, I want in particular to highlight our concern about the impact of the conflict in South Sudan on children. The Secretary-General’s recent report on Children and Armed Conflict report finds that children have been deliberately targeted and killed, very young girls have been subjected to gruesome gang-rape, children have been abducted and their schools destroyed. We welcome the recent visit of the Working Group, as set out by the Swedish Ambassador, and the work on a comprehensive Action Plan to address this issue, and we urge the signatories of these Action Plans to implement them in full.

Mr President, let me conclude by repeating that we are strong supporters of the peace deal and we applaud the efforts of the region in achieving it. There has been progress, and that is welcomed. But there needs to be so much more. It is essential that the Parties demonstrate their commitment to this agreement by addressing all outstanding issues urgently because it is the people of South Sudan who are suffering most – from hunger and from violence. It is for the sake of the people that we must all redouble our efforts.

Thank you Mr President.

FCO statement on United Nations Sanctions Committee decision to sanction militia leader Salah Badi