JERSEY has a relatively poor record of A-level attainment, a seemingly low rate of progression to higher education and a low proportion of locally born Islanders educated to university level, a think-tank report has highlighted.
The Policy Centre Jersey paper on university education available in Jersey, written by the centre’s research adviser, Sir Mark Boleat, discusses expanding such provision.
This would increase choice for students – particularly those from low-income households – raise educational standards to boost Jersey’s competitive position, and reverse the falling proportion of degree-educated students who do not return to the Island, according to the think-tank.
Sir Mark quotes the 2020 Independent School Funding Review which found that in 2016, 61.4% of Jersey pupils went on to A-level study, compared to 71.2% in the UK. Meanwhile, in terms of attainment, this year’s data indicates that 24.5% of local students achieved A*-A grades, compared with 26.5% in England as a whole. However, comparison with the south-east of England exposes a wider gulf.
Referring to a spread of figures from Surrey at the top (with 34.7%) to Kent at the bottom (with 25.4%), Sir Mark comments: “It will be seen that Jersey’s performance is below that of each of the counties, and significantly so in respect of the best performing counties.”
The paper suggests a lower level of attainment is likely to be one reason for a smaller proportion of locally-educated students who go on to university but it also notes that Jersey school leavers probably have more opportunity to go into well-paid employment in the finance sector, which can lead to degree-level qualifications.
“A final reason is that the ‘living at home’ option is available only for a limited range of courses, which reduces the attractiveness of university education, particularly for some groups of students for whom living away from home is not an option,” the report stated.
Higher education available in the Island has been the subject of a series of reviews over the past 19 years, culminating in a 2019 report which sought to create “tertiary education on Island which has international appeal”, but Sir Mark comments: “There has been no subsequent action and the issue does not feature in the current government plan. However, the Minister for Children and Education’s ministerial plan for 2024 does include “developing a strategy for on-Island provision of higher education in partnership with local providers”.
While the report acknowledges that degree-level courses are currently available through a number of providers – University College Jersey at Highlands, BPP International Finance, Jersey International Centre of Advanced Studies, the Institute of Law Jersey and the government through the three-year nursing degree provided by Robert Gordon University – it describes provision as “by any standards thin”, stating that it can meet only a small fraction of potential demand from young Jersey people.
Analysing data from the 2021 census, Sir Mark highlights the extent to which locally born Islanders appear to be disadvantaged in terms of progression to higher education. Although 45% of Islanders aged 21 to 64 had some form of higher-level qualification – compared with 42% in the UK – the percentages were much higher among those born outside Europe and from elsewhere in the British Isles (64% and 53%, respectively) compared with those born in Jersey (39%).
Although not ruling out establishing a local university in the longer-term, the report considers it unrealistic at present, advocating instead two short-term options: developing specialist centres like JICAS, and expanding provision for standard undergraduate courses either through University College Jersey or attracting a campus of a UK university.
