The University calendar as we know it could be scrapped, as ministers have recently considered more flexible timetables, to allow students to enrol at any time throughout the academic year.

The reports from Staffordshire Universities’ Christine King, said that the new proposed flexible timetable could benefit students, with hopes that there might be an upsurge of degree’s taken per-year, including full-time honours.

John Denham, the Universities secretary states his concern that the proposed change, might not offer the full tuition benefits of the current timetabled schedules implemented in current universities.

A secondary report, produced by Professor Paul Ramsden of the Higher Education Academy, also showed concern that the changes would leave students ‘less well prepared academically, less able or less independent as learners’, also adding that Students Freshers, under the new scheme, would be ‘poorly prepared’.

The reports have been commissioned by the government, amidst worries over the proposed inquiries as to whether the current £3000 limit on tuition fees should be lifted.

Universities UK, a university chief’s group, has accused Mr Denham’s reports as being ‘too naïve’, arguing that British Universities will not be able to compete internationally, when even at the moment British Universities are funded to a third of the amount of what US institutions receive.

Under the plans, Universities would be pressured into moving away from the traditional academic calendar, with the government proposals ushering people towards  improving their skills by studying part-time.

Mr Denham has also made his concerns known over the lack of contact time between student and university at some institutions, and is interested in producing ‘spidergram’ league tables in the hopes that revealed teaching times would shock universities into providing more contact time, the plans to cut time spent at university would obviously further the problem of student contact time.

With studies concluding that many UK students only spend 20 hours a week on their studies, the lowest figure in Europe, the proposed governmental plan would see this figure of 20 hours of work per week decrease even more.