A think-tank report said that the multiple problems faced by universities were due to two interlocking factors: the massive over-regulation of universities by the state, and their heavy dependence on state funding to survive. The only solution was to make them genuinely independent.
Source: Dennis O'Keeffe and David Marsland, Independence or Stagnation? The imperatives of university reform in the United Kingdom, Civitas (020 7401 5470)
Links: Civitas press release
Date: 2003-Dec
The government published an overview of tuition fee and student support arrangements internationally, and summarised the position in 13 member countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. It said that the United Kingdom participation rate and spending per student were both below the OECD average, and argued that fees had not damaged access in other countries.
Source: Higher Education Funding International Comparisons, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | DfES press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
A think-tank briefing paper said that the government might be downplaying the extent to which financial constraints deterred
poorer students from entering higher education. There was a danger of underestimating the psychological and financial barriers faced by young people from poorer families: there was clear evidence that they were more averse to taking on debt, and that this was a deterrent to undertaking higher education.
Source: Higher Education and Social Justice: Briefing on the government s proposals for reforming student finance, Catalyst, available from Central Books (020 8986 4854)
Links: Briefing (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
Indicators were published providing comparative data on the performance of higher education institutions in widening participation, student retention, learning and teaching output, research and employment of graduates. They covered all 168 publicly funded higher education institutions in the United Kingdom. The figures suggested that the proportion of students from lower-income backgrounds was 26 per cent in 2001-02, little changed over the previous year: at Oxford and Cambridge the proportion was just 9 per cent.
Source: Performance Indicators in Higher Education in the UK: 2000-01, 2001-02, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Report (Word file) | Links to tables | HEFCE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Dec
A report set out a baseline forecast of future participation in post-compulsory learning. The Learning and Skills Development Agency said the report confirmed the need for new policies such as those outlined in the government s skills strategy (published in July 2003) if significant growth were to be achieved.
Source: Jane Denholm and Deirdre Macleod, Prospects for Growth: Interim report, Learning and Skills Development Agency (020 7297 9016) | Jane Denholm and Deirdre Macleod, Prospects for Growth in Further Education Review of recent literature for the Prospects for growth project, Learning and Skills Development Agency | Press release 4 December 2003, Learning and Skills Development Agency
Links: Literature review (pdf) | LSDA press release (pdf)
Date: 2003-Dec
The government confirmed plans to introduce a Higher Education Bill, providing for variable top-up fees for higher education of up to 3,000 per annum, despite reports of ministerial divisions and substantial opposition from backbench Labour MPs.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, 26 November 2003, columns 4-7 (Queen's Speech), TSO (0870 600 5522) | The Guardian, 26 November 2003
Links: Text of Queen's Speech | NATFHE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
A report examined the consequences for students of the abolition of grants, their complete replacement with loans, and the introduction of tuition fees in 1998. There had been an escalation of student debt with the abolition of student grants; students from poor families were more likely to be in debt and leave university with the largest debt. Financial help from parents had dropped by 18 per cent on average since 1998-99 in real terms. There had also been a sharp rise in the number of students working during term time; those most dependent on work were from the poorest families. Commenting on the survey, the government said that it showed a rise in students standard of living since 1998-99; and that many students were personally contributing to the upfront fee despite the fact that their parents had been assessed as capable of paying - suggesting that many parents and students would benefit from the proposed abolition of upfront fees from 2006.
Source: Claire Callender and David Wilkinson, 2002/03 Student Income and Expenditure Survey: Students' income, expenditure and debt in 2002/03 and changes since 1998/99, Research Report 487, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260) | Press release 18 November 2003, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf) | PSI press release | DfES press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Nov
A new research forum was established, designed to 'strengthen the dialogue' between ministers and the higher education sector on research issues.
Source: Press release 24 November 2003, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: DfES press release
Date: 2003-Nov
A paper argued that the higher education system had to be freed from central control if universities were to be rescued from their current 'slide into mediocrity'. It said that a 'modern, market-led approach' could also lead to a fairer system of access. (The author chairs a government taskforce on a fairer admissions system to higher education.)
Source: Steven Schwartz, Reclaiming our Universities: What should be the future of higher education in Britain?, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Oct
The Learning and Skills Council began consultation on the future funding of further education in England. It said that the sum of all the proposals represented a 'massive cut' in the administrative burden on colleges. Colleges would be able to devise their plans in consultation with their local LSC and be funded on the basis of them: there would be no penalties for minor under-delivery.
Source: Plan-led Funding for Further Education, Learning and Skills Council (0870 900 6800)
Links: Report (Word file) | LSC press release
Date: 2003-Oct
A report said that vocational higher education was valued highly by employers as an alternative to a first degree: but many were confused about the distinct roles and levels of these qualifications.
Source: Brenda Little et al., Vocational Higher Education: Does it meet employers' needs?, Learning and Skills Development Agency (020 7297 9144)
Links: Report (pdf) | LSDA press release
Date: 2003-Oct
A report said that the best estimate available was that demand for undergraduate higher-education places would rise by between 180,000 and 250,000 by 2010. Of these 150,000 would arise from demographic growth, and the remainder as a result of increases in participation. A second report explored the economic factors affecting demand for higher-education places by individuals, and the demand for graduates by employers. A separate paper examined the implications of rising demand for higher-education places for the policies of the three major political parties: all policy prescriptions were found to suffer from potential funding shortfalls.
Source: Libby Aston, Higher Education Supply and Demand to 2010, Higher Education Policy Institute (01865 284450) | Libby Aston and Bahram Bekhradnia, Demand for Graduates: Review of the economic evidence, Higher Education Policy Institute | Bahram Bekhradnia, Demand for HE to 2010: Some political and policy implications, Higher Education Policy Institute
Links: Aston report (pdf) | Aston summary (pdf) | Aston/Bekhradnia report (pdf) | Aston/Bekhradnia summary (pdf) | Bekhradnia paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
The interim report was presented of an official taskforce (under Professor Steven Schwartz) charged with findings ways of creating a fairer university admissions system. The options discussed included the possibility of pupils from failing or disadvantaged schools being offered places at universities on the basis of lower A-level (Advanced level) grades. A post-qualifications admissions system was also discussed, with students applying for courses after their A-level results, designed to give more flexibility by allowing people to apply for courses based on actual, rather than predicted, results. Another option was to allow pupils to sit psychometric tests to determine their ability, and the possibility of scholastic aptitude tests alongside A-levels.
Source: Consultation on Key Issues Relating to Fair Admissions to Higher Education, Admissions to Higher Education Steering Group, available from Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Guardian report | Observer report | NATFHE press release | SHA press release
Date: 2003-Sep
A study evaluated the government's 'Aimhigher' strategy (previously known as 'Excellence Challenge'), aimed at increasing participation in higher education among young people in deprived areas. Just under half of the partnership co-ordinators interviewed stated that ringfenced funding would be necessary in the future in order to sustain the values and outcomes promoted by the project: without this, central or school-based co-ordination between HE institutions, schools and colleges would be impossible to sustain.
Source: Elizabeth Cleaver, Michelle Holland, Susan Merrilees and Marian Morris, Evaluation of Aimhigher: The partnerships view, Research Report 477, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
Researchers attempted to identify which factors influenced young people s entry to higher education. Those with high attainment levels at A level and in Year 11 (GCSE) were more likely than others to enter higher education, as were those whose parents owned their own homes and those whose parents had higher education qualifications themselves. Ethnicity overall was not found to be a significant factor. (GCSE = General Certificate of Secondary Education; A = Advanced)
Source: Vernon Gayle, Damon Berridge and Richard Davies, Econometric Analysis of the Demand for Higher Education, Research Report 472, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
A discussion paper said that there was a clear hierarchy of universities - manifested in the average A-level (Advanced level) points of their entrants. Because school performance and social class were closely related, the academically most selective institutions were inevitably socially unbalanced. The government was therefore right to be concerned with which university poorer students went to (fair access) as well as ensuring that they went to university at all (widening participation).
Source: Bahram Bekhradnia, Widening Participation and Fair Access: Overview of the evidence, Higher Education Policy Institute (01865 284450)
Links: Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
Researchers examined the financial circumstances of people in further education. Among full-time learners, 18 per cent were finding it hard to cope financially, and 21 per cent were finding it quite difficult. Among part-time learners, 5 per cent and 11 per cent respectively were finding it hard or quite difficult to cope.
Source: IFF Research Ltd, Study of Learners in Further Education, Research Report 469, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2003-Sep
The funding body for higher education in England began consultation on its method for allocating research funds. It said the review was designed to reward world-class research in higher education and encourage effective collaboration, while ensuring the financial sustainability of research activity
Source: Review of Research Funding Method: Consultation, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Consultation document (pdf) | Summary | HEFCE press release
Date: 2003-Aug
A report described research to determine whether the characteristics of an applicant s school or college could be used in assessing their potential in higher education. Advanced level (A-level) grades, as summarised by A-level points, were found to be the single most important factor in determining the expected higher education achievement. However, other factors like the gender of the student, characteristics of the school and the university, and subject studied were also associated with higher education achievement, in a complex way. Entrants from state schools and colleges were more likely to get a good degree than similar students, with similar entry qualifications, from private schools.
Source: Schooling Effects on Higher Education Achievement, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary | HEFCE press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
The government announced the income thresholds for the new higher education grant and grants for part-time students (from the academic year 2004-05). The upper income threshold for receiving the maximum higher education grant of 1,000 per annum would be 15,200; those with incomes between 15,201 and 21,185 would get a partial grant. Around 30 per cent of new English and Welsh students were expected to benefit from the full grant, and a further 10 per cent from a partial grant. The new grant for part-time students would apply to those studying the equivalent of 50 per cent of a full-time course: the upper income threshold for the full grant would be 14,599, and the grant would be capped at 575 per annum (plus up to 250 for course costs).
Source: Press release 16.7.03, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: DfES press release
Date: 2003-Jul
Researchers examined aspects of minority ethnic students' participation in higher education. No minority ethnic group was found to be likely to be underrepresented, relative to their position in the working-age population in England. Black and Asian students were likely to have somewhat higher early-leaving rates than white students. All minority ethnic groups achieved lower classes of degrees, on average, than white students: black (and especially black African) students come out as the lowest achieving group. Unemployment rates for minority ethnic full-time degree graduates were higher than for white graduates, and higher in particular for black African, Pakistani and Bangladeshi groups.
Source: Helen Connor, Claire Tyers, Sara Davis, and Nii Djan Tackey, Minority Ethnic Students in Higher Education: Interim report, Research Report 448, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jul
A committee of MPs said that too great a reliance on funding higher education through taxation would inevitably lead to less independence for universities; that it would be 'very unwise' to proceed with a much greater concentration of research funding in a few institutions; that the proposed Office for Fair Access was 'unnecessary'; and that there should be enhanced and better targeted support for students from low-income families, to be funded by the abolition of the undifferentiated interest rate subsidy for student loans. In response, the government said that the overall strategy as set out in the White Paper remained 'the most credible way forward for the sector, students and parents'.
Source: The Future of Higher Education, Fifth Report (Session 2002-03), HC 425-I, House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 28.7.03, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288)
Links: Report | DfES press release | NATFHE/AUT press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jul
Agreement was reached to transfer responsibility for the higher and further education student support system in Wales, together with the tuition fee regime, from Westminster to the Welsh Assembly (subject to legislation). It was envisaged that the transfer would take place in 2006-07.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 17.7.03, columns 84-85WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | WAG press release | Wales Office press release
Date: 2003-Jul
A report said it was a 'national disgrace' that the further education sector was 'frowned upon, fundamentally mismanaged and.. continually starved of resources and political support'. It called for massive reforms to further education and a better distribution of training and development opportunities.
Source: Andy Westwood and Alexandra Jones, FEUK: Productivity, Social Inclusion and Public Sector Reform, Work Foundation (0870 165 6700)
Links: Report (pdf) | Work Foundation press release
Date: 2003-Jul
An interim evaluation report assessed the impact of changes to the funding of post-16 learning (introduced in 1999) and the creation of Learning and Skills Councils (April 2001). There was overwhelming agreement on the need to bring together the different strands of post-16 learning under a single funding body, but different views on how far this had been achieved.
Source: Philip Wilson, John Rodger, Vicky Hopwood and Matt Antill, Evaluation of Post 16 Learning Arrangements, Research Report 435, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Brief (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jun
A report analysed the relationship between the results of the 2001 research assessment exercise and subsequent decisions relating to the recurrent funding of research in England. It said that research by more than 8,000 academic staff in nearly 500 university departments in England across the spectrum of social science, medicine, science, engineering, technology, arts and humanities was under threat because of the government s funding policy for higher education.
Source: The Risk to Research in Higher Education in England, Association of University Teachers (020 7670 9700)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary | AUT press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
A report compared the reforms to student funding proposed by the two main political parties. Under both sets of proposals, it was found that students would be better off while at university than under an unchanged system; that the overall cost to the taxpayer of the proposals would be about the same (around 1.8 billion under the White Paper, and 1.7 billion under the Conservatives' plans); that, for a given amount of government spending, more students could go to university under the White Paper proposals (because graduates would contribute more through loan repayments to cover tuition fees); and that the Conservative proposals would benefit the richest households more than the government proposals, while the poorest households would be worse off.
Source: Alissa Goodman and Greg Kaplan, 'Study Now, Pay Later', or 'HE for Free'?: Assessment of alternative proposals for higher education finance, Commentary 94, Institute for Fiscal Studies (020 7291 4800)
Links: IFS press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jun
The opposition Conservative Party said that it would end tuition fees for all higher education students - but also end existing government plans to expand higher education. A university teaching union described the proposal as 'elitist' and 'contrary to the national interest'.
Source: Speech by Iain Duncan Smith MP (Leader of the Opposition) 13.5.03 | Press release 13.5.03, National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (020 7837 3636)
Links: Text of speech | NATFHE press release
Date: 2003-May
A study examined how a disadvantaged background affected young people s experience of higher and further education. It confirmed that disadvantaged young people were not enjoying an equal level of success within higher education: not only were such young people less likely to reach degree status, but even those who did were likely to have suffered from a number of barriers which may have hindered their progress and deterred them from continuing any further.
Source: Andy Furlong and Alasdair Forsyth, Losing Out? Socioeconomic disadvantage and experience in further and higher education, Policy Press for Joseph Rowntree Foundation, available from Marston Book Services (01235 465500)
Links: JRF Findings 563
Date: 2003-May
A review of the university research assessment exercise proposed that there should be a six-year cycle; that the next assessment process should take place in 2007-08; that there should be a clear link between assessment outcomes and funding; and that the 'least research intensive institutions' should be considered separately from the remainder of the higher education sector. The four higher education funding bodies began consultation on the report. A university teaching union said it could split the existing university system and lead to a two-tier sector.
Source: Review of Research Assessment: Report by Sir Gareth Roberts to the UK funding bodies, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317) | Press release 29.5.03, Association of University Teachers (020 7670 9700)
Links: Links to report and summary | HEFCE press release | AUT press release | Universities UK press release | Guardian article
Date: 2003-May
Unpublished findings from focus group research, commissioned by the government, reportedly found opposition to a graduate tax system.
Source: The Guardian, 22.4.03
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Apr
The government said it accepted the main recommendations in an official taskforce report on cutting bureaucracy in higher education. (It then set up another review group to look at the issue.)
Source: Government Response to 'Higher Education: Easing the Burden', Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Response | Taskforce report (pdf) | DfES press release
Date: 2003-Apr
The government published plans for a new Office for Fair Access (OFFA), designed to support the widening of participation in higher education. OFFA would be an independent body, separate from but supported by the Higher Education Funding Council. Universities wishing to increase their fees above the current 1,100 level would need to draw up an access agreement that would be considered and approved by OFFA. Agreements would last for five years. A university teaching union said that OFFA was 'mere window dressing to ease the introduction of differential fees'.
Source: Widening Participation in Higher Education, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260) | Press release 8.4.03, Department for Education and Skills (0870 000 2288) | House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 8.4.03, columns 16-18WS, TSO (0870 600 5522) | Press release 8.4.03, National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (020 7837 3636)
Links: Report (pdf) | DfES press release | Hansard | NATFHE press release
Date: 2003-Apr
Responding to the government White Paper on higher education, universities acknowledged some 'positive' aspects, in particular the abolition of up-front fee contributions, the raising of the cap on tuition fees, and the reintroduction of a maintenance grant. But they drew attention to the damaging consequences of further research concentration, the likelihood of a more specialised and differentiated sector, and restrictions on university autonomy.
Source: Universities UK s response to The Future of Higher Education , Universities UK (020 7388 8649)
Links: Response (pdf) | Universities UK press release | White Paper (pdf)
Date: 2003-Apr
Private school associations called for a complete overhaul of the university admissions system, including a wholesale shift of the process to the period after A (Advanced) level results were known, and an ombudsman role for the new Office for Fair Access.
Source: Opening up Higher Education, Girls Schools Association and Headmasters and Headmistresses Conference, available from Independent Schools Council information service (020 7798 1500)
Links: Report (pdf) | ISCis press release
Date: 2003-Apr
The higher education sector recorded a surplus in 2001-02 of 64.3 million, after recording a deficit in 2000-01 for the first time since records began.
Source: HE Finance Plus 2001/02, Higher Education Statistics Agency (01242 211155)
Links: HESA press release
Date: 2003-Apr
The Welsh Assembly Government announced that it would not be introducing variable ('top-up') fees for higher education institutions in Wales for the next Assembly term - but said that it did not rule them out in the longer term.
Source: Press release 14.3.03, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Mar
The Secretary of State for education said that there might be a case for waiving tuition fees for students from the lowest-income homes. (Tuition fees, up to a maximum of 3,000, are due to be introduced in 2006.)
Source: Oral Evidence 19.3.03 by Charles Clarke MP (Secretary of State for Education and Skills), Session 2002-03, HC 425-vi, House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Uncorrected evidence
Date: 2003-Mar
The higher education minister said the government intended to set targets for increasing participation by children from lower-income families in higher education: but she later contradicted this, reportedly following pressure from the Secretary of State for education.
Source: The Guardian, 4.3.03
Links:Guardian report
Date: 2003-Mar
Higher education funding for teaching, research and special initiatives was announced for 2003-04. Social work (but not social policy) departments rated '3A' and '3B' will be eligible to submit research strategies which could release 'capability funding'. ( 20 million is available in a capability fund to support research in 'emerging subject areas' where the research base is not as strong as in more established subjects.)
Source: Recurrent Grants for 2003-04, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2003-Mar
A report contained the findings of opinion surveys commissioned by the government into public attitudes towards the current system of student funding, and potential alternatives. The current system was criticised on a number of grounds, including problems over debt, but there was no clear consensus over the best alternative.
Source: Opinion Leader Research, Student Funding: Findings from a two-stage programme of qualitative research on the funding of higher education, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (Word file)
Date: 2003-Mar
The Higher Education Funding Council for England published its draft strategic plan, setting out its broad vision for the development of higher education. It said that it would require virtually every university from 2004 to stay within five percentage points (from 2010, three percentage points) of benchmarks for recruiting students from the poorest social classes. But the government reportedly ordered it to scrap the targets.
Source: HEFCE Strategic Plan 2003-08, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317) | The Times, 14.3.03
Links: HEFCE plan (pdf)
Date: 2003-Mar
A report reviewed the strategies and plans drawn up by higher education institutions since 2001 for widening participation. It said that 'significant gains' have been made in institutional approaches to widening participation, with two-thirds of the strategies showing commitment to social inclusion.
Source: Review of 2001 Widening Participation Strategies and Action Plans from HEIs, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2003-Mar
Researchers analysed the childcare support needs of students aged 16-19 in further education.
Source: Sally Dench and Ceri Evans, Childcare, 16 to 19 Year Old Parents and Further Education, Department for Education and Skills (0845 602 2260)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary
Date: 2003-Feb
The higher education minister reportedly said that universities would be allowed to charge additional tuition fees (as proposed in a government Green Paper) before an assessment of their access policies for students from low-income families could be made by the new regulator.
Source: The Guardian, 11.2.03
Links: Guardian report
Date: 2003-Feb
A report warned that the government's plans to restore maintenance grants for the poorest students will not be enough to encourage working-class students to enter higher education.
Source: Fair Enough?: Wider access to university by identifying potential to succeed, Universities UK (020 4719 4111)
Links: Report (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on the post-16 student support system. It said it had looked at a large number of possible models, with the objective of finding a fair and affordable solution, balancing the needs of the sector against what it is reasonable for the taxpayer and the beneficiaries of higher education to pay.
Source: Post-16 Student Support: Government Response to the Sixth Report from the Education and Skills Committee, Session 2001-02, Second Special Report (Session 2002-03), HC 440, House of Commons Education and Skills Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2003-Feb
Research reportedly found that recent expansion in university education has mainly benefited less able pupils from middle-class backgrounds.
Source: Research by Stephen Machin (University College London), reported in The Observer, 23.2.03
Links: Observer report
Date: 2003-Feb
A report said that, whereas young working-class people tend to blame themselves for lack of success in degree courses and jobs because of widespread messages about opportunities being 'open to all', in reality factors such as social class, gender and poverty are still barriers to learning despite initiatives to widen participation.
Source: Karen Evans, Learning for a Living?: The powerful, the dispossessed and the learning revolution, Institute of Education/University of London (020 7612 6050)
Links: Press release
Date: 2003-Feb
Final figures showed that the number of people accepted by universities and colleges in autumn 2002 was up by 2.8 per cent (10,074) on the previous year. A total of 368,115 applicants were accepted onto full-time undergraduate courses, compared with 358,041 in 2001.
Source: Press release 17.1.03, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (01242 544610)
Links: Press release | Link to datasets
See also: Journal of Social Policy Volume 31/4, Digest 124, paragraph 3.8
Date: 2003-Jan
Consultation began on the development of threshold standards for research degree programmes, prior to formal consultation in spring 2003.
Source: Improving Standards in Postgraduate Research Degree Programmes: Informal consultation, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Consultation document (pdf)
Date: 2003-Jan
A committee set up to review arrangements for improving the quality of learning and teaching in higher education proposed the creation of a single central body (provisionally called the Academy for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education).
Source: Teaching Quality Enhancement Committee, Future Needs and Support for Quality Enhancement of Learning and Teaching in Higher Education: Final report, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317), Universities UK, Standing Conference of Principals
Links: Report (pdf) | HEFCE press release
Date: 2003-Jan
The government published a White Paper aimed at making universities 'more open to all students and more competitive in the world economy'. From 2004, a maintenance grant will be introduced (up to 1,000 per year) for students from households with annual incomes of 10,000 or less (with tapered assistance in the 10-20,000 range). The state will continue to meet the full 1,100 cost of tuition fees for students with family incomes of up to 20,000 (with part payment in the 20-30,000 range). From April 2005, the earning threshold at which student loans are repaid will be raised from 10,000 to 15,000. From 2006, universities will be entitled to set their own tuition fees for individual courses, up to a 3,000 maximum (capped for the next Parliament, rising with inflation). Tuition fees above 1,100 will be subject to an access agreement , monitored by a new access regulator, designed to improve access by students from lower-income groups. The government reaffirmed its target of having 50 per cent of young people on degree courses, but said the 'bulk' of the increase should come from two year work-focused foundation degrees provided by further education colleges. One union commented that in future: 'money will be the real determinant of which students can access which universities'. Universities broadly welcomed the plans. (The White Paper covers higher education in England only, except for some issues - highlighted in the text - which are reserved matters for the United Kingdom parliament)
Source: The Future of Higher Education, White Paper Cm 5735, Department for Education and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522) | House of Commons Hansard, Debate 22.1.03, columns 301-319, TSO | Press release 21.1.03, National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (020 7837 3636) | Press release 22.1.03, Universities UK (020 7419 5435)
Links: White Paper (pdf) | Summary (pdf) | Hansard | DfES press release (1) | DfES press release (2) | NATFHE press release | Universities UK press release | Guardian report
Date: 2003-Jan
The government set out the grant to the Higher Education Funding Council for England for the period 2003-04 to 2005-06. Compared to the previous spending plans for 2003-04 published in November 2001, publicly planned funding will increase by some 19 per cent in real terms by 2005-06. Taking into account increases in research funding from the Office of Science and Technology and increases in student support, publicly planned funding will increase from 7.5 billion in 2002-03 to almost 10 billion in 2005-06.
Source: Letter from Secretary of State for Education and Skills 22.1.03, available from Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Text of letter | DfES press release | HEFCE response
Date: 2003-Jan
