Students in England are going to be offered degrees in two years with a £5,500 saving in tuition fees, says the universities minister Jo Johnson.

Undergraduate courses will be condensed into “accelerated” degrees, with fees 20% less than a three-year course.

Mr Johnson said he wants to “break the mould” of a system in which three-year degrees have “crowded out” any more flexible ways of studying.

The Office for Fair Access says the plan could help to widen opportunities.

The idea of a two-year degree had been proposed earlier this year – but this latest version has moved further towards making it cheaper for students.

More flexible degrees

Students would all take the same number of units and have the same amount of teaching and supervision, but it would be delivered in a third of the time.

As well as reduced tuition fees, students will save on a year’s living costs and will be able to start working a year earlier – a package which Mr Johnson says could cut costs by £25,000.

It would also be cheaper for the government, which would have lower tuition fee loans to fund, with this fee arrangement intended to be available from autumn 2019.

It is part of Mr Johnson’s push for more value for money for students – after concerns that students did not think they were getting good value from their tuition fees.

It comes ahead of a wider review of fees and university funding expected in the next few weeks.