Students who take two-year undergraduate degrees achieve better results than those who study for the standard three years, a conference will hear today.

An evaluation of the fast-track degrees carried out by Staffordshire University, which has more than 200 students enrolled on shorter programmes, found that on average such students received a higher degree classification than their three-year counterparts.

The evaluation, funded by the ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø Funding Council for England, also found that retention rates on the two-year courses were good and that students were more ¡°engaged¡± with their subject in the first months of university.

The findings, which were due to be presented at the Getting There by Degrees: Fast Track Degrees and Flexible Learning conference at the University of Plymouth today, also indicate that the two-year option is more attractive to mature students.

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Steve Williams, director for academic development at Staffordshire, said fast-track courses were not ¡°sold as an easy route ¨C it¡¯s a difficult route¡±.

He added: ¡°It¡¯s for committed students. Students who enrol on the fast-track degree save about ?20,000 on the cost of enrolling on a three-year degree, in the tuition fee plus what they would earn in that time.¡±

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Dr Williams, who is due to speak at the conference, also poured cold water on the suggestion that two-year degrees are a form of ¡°dumbing down¡±.

¡°These awards are subject to the same quality assurance as all our other awards,¡± he said. ¡°Those criticisms are often from the universities that do not offer two-year degrees, the pre-1992 universities.¡±

Dawn Whitemore, head of development at University of Derby Corporate, the institution¡¯s commercial arm, is due to tell delegates that universities must provide flexible degrees to suit potential students already in the workplace.

She agreed that suggestions that fast-track courses were less intellectually challenging were misplaced. ¡°We have to be honest, we still have pockets that are not comfortable with it, but that idea is an absolute mistake,¡± she said.

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hannah.fearn@tsleducation.com