Route B - Follow up

Dear Colleagues

Please find enclosed my notes from last week’s meeting with The Delivery Partnerships Chair of the Art & Design Working Group for Foundation Art Course Leaders. I have done my best to summarise opinions expressed on both sides. If anyone who was there feels I’ve missed anything out please reply to all with your additions.

The main point to make is this; the decision to scrap Sequential Route B has been made but the final deadline application date for the new amalgamated application route is still being discussed and in the short term (next year only) H.E. Courses will be given the option of specifying either 15th January or 24th March. This is because those representatives from H.E. Institutions who have been consulted about the changes (I suspect mainly H.E. Management and admissions staff), have not been able to reach a final decision. In the long term there will only be one date which could be either January or March but maybe a different date somewhere in between.

What you need to do now.

At the meeting we were asked to submit e-mails to the Guild HE outlining our objections to any shortening of 24th March deadline in terms of our student’s educational experience and / or negative impact on the effectiveness of their HE application. This needs to be done now as the decisions are being made very rapidly and so far, through poor consultation, very little opposition has been raised against these changes.

I realise that many of you have already forwarded your views to Tony Charlton at UCAS but I would ask you now to send your thoughts, opinions and objections to Alice Hynes at Guild HE with the intention of effecting these changes.
Her e-mail address is Alice.Hynes@guildhe.ac.uk

I am attaching two sets of comments which I think sum up the problems with the proposed changes very well. One is from an HE member of staff, David Alker, Course Leader of the Fine Art BA programme at University of Central Lancashire and the other from Wayne Robinson former Foundation Course Leader at St Helens College now Head of their BA Paining course.

Please do not hesitate in sending your responses to Guild HE even if you feel others have already made the same points; it is weight of opinion and opposition that counts now. This will probably be your last chance to make any impact on these proposed changes, please take it.

Please forward this e-mail to anyone in the schools, FE or HE sector who you think may wish to contribute to this debate.

Thanks in advance for your support.

David Ballantyne
Course Leader
Foundation Diploma in Art & design
ND Art & Design
South Cheshire College

• Respond to this article here
• David Alker Route B Changes e-mail
• GUILDHE Route B meeting
• Wayne Robinson Removal of the UCAS Route B Issues