Students in place race offered a degree of flexibility

But one Yorkshire university has developed a new way of studying which is aimed at removing both of these barriers.

The Bradford Way, unveiled today in the Yorkshire Post, looks to combine full- and part-time study and allow undergraduates on low incomes to avoid both tuition fees and debts from student loans.

It has been launched to help students who will face a battle for places to get into higher education this year.

Bradford University is now offering an alternative route where students complete around two-thirds of the work done by their full-time counterparts each year.

Through the scheme, a three-year degree course on the Bradford Way will be expected to take around four-and-a half years to complete as students earn 80 academic credits a year - rather than the normal 120 when studying full-time.

Completing around two-thirds of the work of a full-time student means participants are available to hold part-time jobs and carry out work placements.

Students must, however, be able to complete the course in no longer than double the length of time it would take to finish full-time.

Candidates whose household income is less than 16,845 can receive support to cover their tuition fee but as part-time students they will not able to apply for student loans.

Because of this, the university believes it will attract interest from school leavers who are living locally with their family. It will also mean they can graduate from university without building up large debts.

Support will be given to students based on their own income rather than that of their parents.

From September the university is offering100 places available through the Bradford Way route but hopes to be able to expand the programme to allow more students to get into higher education amid pressure on places for full-time courses.

Universities across the region could be forced to turn away record numbers of candidates this summer as demand for higher education remains high during the economic recovery.

Last year there were around six times as many applicants to Yorkshire universities as there were places available.

Full-time degree courses are capped, preventing universities expanding to meet the demand, and earlier this year most higher education institutions in Yorkshire discovered that their teaching budgets will be cut for 2010/11.

Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford and Huddersfield have all seen their teaching budgets and overall funding dropping.

Bradford University will receive around 230,000 less from Higher Education Funding Council for England in the next academic year. It is now, however, looking to provide new places for students by establishing part-time education as an alternative option for school leavers going to university.

The Bradford Way is to be offered on around 40 degree courses including English, history, politics, archaeology, peace studies, business and management and computer science.

Becka Currant, the university's Dean of Students said: "We have been looking for a way to expand our part-time numbers. They are not capped like full-time numbers and we are allowed additional places.

"We have talked to students and we are anticipating that there will be a lot of interest in this because it won't leave people with thousands of pounds of debt.

"Because they are not full-time students they will not qualify for a loan to support their living expenses so we expect it to appeal to people who are living locally."

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