120 remotely-based Ultraversity student 'researchers' from Anglia Ruskin University met face to face for the first time at their degree ceremony on 24 November. The graduates are from a group of 140 researchers who have successfully completed their BA Hons Learning Technology Research degree courses.

This remarkable group of student researchers centred their study on learning based on their very own working practices. The study programme which sees the researcher combine study with working can take as little as three years to complete which is the same time as the length of a standard degree. Open University courses, by comparison, extend over five to six years when undertaken while the student is engaged in employment.

Ultralab, a learning research division of Anglia Ruskin University, has been working hard to explore new approaches to e-learning as a part of its commitment to expanding access to higher education. The Ultraversity project was set up to directly contribute to this government priority area by researching the delivery of a BA (Hons), Learning Technology Research fully online, undergraduate, work based degree.

This degree programme is aimed at people in employment, in jobs they enjoy and with the opportunity to research and influence their practice. Because of work or family commitments, these people often have few opportunities to study through the traditional route of face to face learning. The BA (Hons) LTR degree offers them the opportunity to study online as an alternative.

Student researchers not only develop their own skills as problem solvers, but also have a significant impact on the workplace by improving the way they work with colleagues.

This is an example of a successful e-learning initiative that has combined a range of new technologies and ideas to meet the needs of 21st century learners. Increasingly the 'traditional' model of university attendance doesn't always meet the needs of many students and employers; they demand increased personalisation for their studies and about how they make choices for their approach to learning.

The proposition at both Undergraduate and Postgraduate level that someone should take years away from their professional practice with the associated loss of income to attend a University with a curriculum that may be outdated or simply not relevant is becoming less attractive.

Instead, this programme focuses on the individual who is supported to develop a personal curriculum with their own relevant objectives that address their particular needs. They are then helped to develop their own research and lifelong learning skills to study it.

The results of this maverick group is a testament to the success of the degree programme in meeting the needs of a wide range of potential students currently excluded from Higher Education.

Ultraversity, currently, has enjoyed far more success to date than the failed UK e-University which managed to sign up only 900 students from across the UK but not produce a single graduate.

With course fees of £1200 a year, Ultraversity has demonstrated that degree programmes of high quality can be cost effective and, crucially, offer opportunities to people who would otherwise have been unable to benefit from higher level education.

Ultraversity undergraduates are called researchers because they research their current job and develop degree level, lifelong learning skills in the process.

For further information about the Ultraversity online degree visit www.ultraversity.net