Top universities oppose business-friendly degrees

Leading universities are against government plans to introduce intensive, business-friendly degrees, a Financial Times study has suggested.

Draft proposals outline reforms that would see degrees taught over a 48-week period, with most of learning delivered online or in the workplace.

Some institutions, such as the University of Liverpool, have already started to experiment with the 48-week model, which the government hopes will improve the link between higher education and employers.

However, universities including Bristol, Oxford and Cambridge are all against the plans, and claim that it would affect research and staff workloads.

A Cambridge spokesman said: "Residence remains core to our degree provision, as does the ability to learn intensively in short terms."