UK’s first estate agency degree costs £9,250 a year – but some lectures will be online
The university behind Britain’s first estate agency degree is charging students £9,250 a year – but lectures will be online.
The full-time two-year foundation degree, launched by the Royal Agricultural University this month, was criticised by estate agents who said aspiring professionals needed good people skills more than any academic qualification.
Marketing material for the course on the university’s website and on Ucas, the university admissions service, provides no information about the number of hours of online learning.
The only suggestion that teaching is not always in-person can be found on a link to programme details, which states that there is “blended learning” for part-time students who complete the course over four years.
However, when questioned the university confirmed that a third of teaching would be online.
Correspondence seen by The Telegraph shows that a course leader admitted the foundation degree includes an average of 12 contact hours per week, of which eight are in-person seminars and four online lectures.
The university said the course, which starts in September, will include two days a week of teaching to allow students to work on other days alongside their studies.
A spokesman for the Royal Agricultural University told The Telegraph that the new estate agency course was “in line with our standard delivery model”, which includes 36 hours per module, of which 12 are online learning.
She said: “The breakdown of contact hours are detailed on our module specifications, which are provided to the students ahead of enrolment. Alongside this route, prospective students are also encouraged to speak with programme leaders ahead of applying and attend events such as open days and webinars when this information is covered.”
Competition and Markets Authority guidance states that providers should tell students about the number and type of contact hours.
Paul Wiltshire, a parent campaigner, claimed that “an increasing number of universities are no longer even offering real in-person lectures and think that it is perfectly acceptable now to just serve as much as 100 per cent online lectures and still charge the same fees”.
He called on the Office for Students (OfS), the higher education regulator, to “force universities to openly declare whether their teaching is online”.
An OfS spokesman said: “We are unable to comment on individual cases. Students should receive clear detailed information about how their course will be delivered, and are supported to develop the skills they need.
“Universities and colleges should ensure that decisions about the balance between online and in-person learning are underpinned by solid reasoning that does not compromise students’ experience.”
