Conference assuages fear over Bologna

There has been mounting concern over the impact of the much-maligned Bologna Declaration on UK engineering degree programmes, particularly the integrated MEng. It is hoped that this widely held feeling of disquiet will have eased following a recent London conference on the subject co-sponsored by Engineering Council UK (ECUK), The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) and the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET).

Some 140 delegates - the majority of them leading engineering academics and representatives of engineering institutions - attended the one-day meeting, held at IET's Savoy Place headquarters on 5th October. They learnt that the 'Bologna Process', under which forty-eight European nations have agreed to align their higher education systems, is nowhere near as advanced as many had suspected. They were also cheered by evidence that the UK is having success with its argument that education outcomes and workloads are a sounder basis for comparing degrees than course duration, which tends to disadvantage integrated MEng programmes.

In the day's opening presentation, ECUK's director of formation Richard Shearman reminded delegates that: "Bologna is an inter-governmental agreement not a legally-binding commitment, though some in the HE community talk about it as if it were. Also, its principal aim is mobility not uniformity."

He went on to point out that, "Taken across Europe, progress towards meeting the requirements of Bologna is highly mixed.  In many countries there is quite a gap between governmental and HE institutional strategies and there are still differences between some national policy pronouncements and what is happening on the ground. In fact, the UK is among the leaders in taking the process forward, despite being the only signatory nation that has a negative overall view of Bologna"

"The original 2010 deadline for implementation of Bologna now seems unlikely to be met and it has been suggested, by the Chief Executive of QAA, that it could be quite a long time after this date that the process will be complete."

Unsurprisingly, Rachel Green from the Department of Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) is among those who view the agreement in a very favourable light. Delivering the conference's keynote address, she saw benefits for all concerned - students, HE institutions, employers and wider society. On the issue of most concern to those present - the future of MEng and other integrated master's degrees, she stated: "I do not believe that these kinds of programmes are under threat because of Bologna. This sets out a requirement for a bachelor's to be a minimum of three years, but beyond that there are no stipulations on the length of degrees." She also debunked the myth that Bologna spelt the end of the one-year MSc.

Moving on to the vexed question of the European Credit Transfer System (ECTS), the proposed mechanism for comparing qualifications, the message continued to be upbeat: "We have had some success over the last few years in getting people to understand the idea of considering learning outcomes alongside workload. There is now widespread agreement that you need a combination of outcome and workload if you are going to have a credit system that is worthy of the name." However, she acknowledged that learning outcomes is a term that is poorly understood, and as a consequence it can be misapplied Europe.  "There is general agreement that the new Bologna work programme for the next two years needs to address this issue as a matter of urgency."

A more universal system of credits in England would undoubtedly help in the ongoing discussions about ECTS.  As Rachel Green pointed out, the lack of one means, "we are not always starting from a very strong position when we talk about learning outcomes and credits."

Two speakers from Imperial College London showed that 4-year integrated master's degrees can meet the 270 ECTS rule.  Imperial has conducted an exercise that demonstrates how its own MEng programmes contain sufficient credits for recognition as a full second-cycle qualification.  This was achieved by including the totality of the education received over the 4 years.  It has also identified several activities, such as paid research work done by students during the long vacation and voluntary work overseas, to which ECTS credits may be assigned should there be a shortfall.

During the panel discussion that followed the main presentations, there were some who suggested that UK master's degrees - particularly those in science subjects - are seen as inferior by some of our European partners. However, it became clear that the UK is not being singled out for condemnation, as is sometimes suggested. Examples were given of the substantial differences between other nations' qualifications, underlining the point that alignment is still a long way off.

Delegates put forward a number of ideas that they believed would assist the cause of UK science and engineering degrees, including the introduction of a common final examination for engineering graduates and widespread adoption of the newly established European Commission backed EURACE system for accrediting engineering programmes.

Several speakers urged the UK's higher education establishment to engage more with their opposite numbers in Europe and seek out every opportunity to explain and promote the UK system.

The overall impression conveyed by the conference was that UK university engineering departments are not faced with the prospect of imminent and undesirable change but instead have everything to play for.

Full details of the conference, including a transcript and video, can be found at www.theiet.org/bologna.