THE first students to trial fast-track degrees at Staffordshire University have graduated – just two years after starting their courses.

They squeezed a normal three-year programme into a couple of years by working through traditional summer breaks, and splitting their time between face-to-face lectures and distance learning.

Now the approach is so popular that 127 people have signed up for intensive courses this year, compared with 26 at the start.

One key attraction is students are only charged two years of tuition fees, while they also cut down on overall living costs.

But many mature undergraduates are also opting for this route because it is a quicker way to enter the jobs market or retrain for a new career.

Yasmin Powell has just completed a fast-track degree in English and picked up her certificate during a graduation ceremony at the university's College Road site in Stoke.

The 28-year-old, who lives in Milton, returned to higher education after previously dropping out of university.

She said: "I've worked a lot harder and benefited from my experience. I picked the course primarily because of my age.

"Before I came here, I had done different jobs.

"I worked for National Express, HSBC, as a receptionist at a Holiday Inn, and at the Britannia Stadium."

Now Yasmin is on a teacher training course at Keele University and hopes to become an English teacher.

Staffordshire University has been one of five institutions taking part in a pilot of fast-track degrees, with support from The Higher Education Funding Council For England.

Five more universities have since followed their lead, and the ideas pioneered in the Potteries could go nationwide.

The first subjects offered at Staffordshire University have included law, geography, English, and professional sports writing and broadcasting. The programme has now been extended to include business, accounting, and motor sport technology.

Chloe Rutkowski and Laura Chadwick, who are both aged 21, have completed fast-track degrees in law.

"I knew law was competitive as a career so I wanted to look a bit different. That's why I did this course," said Chloe, who lives in Shelton.

"I'm one of just a few people in the country to have done something like this."

Laura, from Ash Bank, said studying more intensively had its downside. She said: "You were still studying when all your friends came home for the summer."

In the first year, the fast-track students learnt alongside people on three-year courses.

But they began an extra semester last June, where they attended a summer school and worked via distance learning.

Students started more advanced modules last September and completed the final part of their studies between Christmas and September this year.

Steve Wyn William, the university's director for academic development, said: "We were one of the first universities to offer the two-year degrees and have been the most successful in terms of numbers coming through.

"It is like a badge of honour for students – if they can do the degree in two years, it really does show maturity and tenacity."