The Welsh Assembly government published a higher education strategy and plan for Wales. It included a 'significant shift' in how the £400 million annual funding from the Welsh Assembly Government to the HE sector in Wales would be spent – with the aim of improving efficiency, widening access, developing strong links between the economy and higher education providers, and improving opportunities for learning through the medium of Welsh.
Source: For Our Future: The 21st Century Higher Education Strategy and Plan for Wales, Welsh Assembly Government
Links: Strategy | ICG press release | ATL press release
Date: 2009-Dec
A report said that a policy of selectively funding university research based on quality had driven up the quality of research since the introduction of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). On the other hand, there was no direct correlation between size and excellence outside some of the physical sciences: small research units could be effective in subjects such as the social sciences.
Source: Concentration and Diversity: Understanding the relationship between excellence, volume and critical mass, University Alliance
Links: Report | University Alliance press release | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report for the watchdog for access to higher education said that university bursaries and scholarships were helping to overcome financial barriers to higher education: but that more needed to be done to improve awareness and understanding, particularly at key decision-making stages.
Source: Claire Callender, Awareness, Take-Up and Impact of Institutional Bursaries and Scholarships in England, Office for Fair Access
Links: Report | OFFA press release | UUK press release | 1994 Group press release | UCU press release | NUS press release | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Dec
The government announced a £135 million cut to higher education funding in England in 2010-11, in addition to cuts previously contained in the 2009 Budget. After switching £84 million from capital spending, there would be a £51 million cut in teaching grant.
Source: Letter from Lord Mandelson (Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills), 22 December 2009
Links: Text of letter | DBIS press release | UCU press release | NIACE press release | Liberal Democrats press release | Times Higher Education report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Dec
A report examined levels of participation by the Scottish adult population at school, United Kingdom universities, and Scotland's colleges. The total number of individuals studying in college or university education had fallen between 2003-04 and 2007-08. In 2007-08, those from the most deprived areas of Scotland had a slightly higher likelihood of being in college or university education than those from less deprived areas; this ratio of participation among the most deprived to participation among the less deprived had been on an increasing trend since 2003.
Source: Scottish Participation in Further and Higher Education 2003-04 to 2007-08, Scottish Funding Council
Links: Report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2009-Nov
The Welsh Assembly government published a strategy for higher education in Wales, promising a 'radical transformation' designed to improve efficiency, widen access, develop strong links between the economy and higher education providers, and improve opportunities for learning through the medium of Welsh.
Source: For Our Future: The 21st century higher education strategy and plan for Wales, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Strategy | Strategy (Welsh) | NUS press release | WalesOnline report
Date: 2009-Nov
The government published a new framework for the future of higher education, setting out the role universities would play in securing the country's economic recovery and long-term prosperity. There would be more competition between universities, giving greater priority to programmes that met the need for high-level skills. Business would be more engaged in the funding and design of programmes, sponsorship of students, and work placements. Universities would be encouraged to consider contextual data in admissions, as one way of ensuring that higher education was available to all young people who had the ability to benefit.
Source: Higher Ambitions: The future of universities in a knowledge economy, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (0870 150 2500)
Links: Report | Summary | DBIS press release | HEFCE press release | OFFA press release | QAA press release | UCU press release | ATL press release | UUK press release | 1994 Group press release | GuildHE press release | NIACE press release | TUC press release | CBI press release | BMA press release | BBC report | Guardian report (1) | Guardian report (2) | New Start report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2009-Nov
A think-tank report said that the further education system was a 'bastion of Soviet central planning' that had wholly avoided the market-based reforms adopted in other parts of the state sector. It proposed a new model for funding that was 'student centred'.
Source: Alison Wolf, An Adult Approach to Further Education, Institute of Economic Affairs (020 7799 8900)
Links: Report | IEA press release
Date: 2009-Nov
A study found that in 2007-08 universities generated £59 billion for the economy – an increase of over £15 billion since the previous study in 2004.
Source: Ursula Kelly, Donald McLellan and Iain McNicoll, The Impact of Universities on the UK Economy, Universities UK (020 7419 5435)
Links: Report | UCU press release | 1994 Group press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report examined career decision-making by university applicants, and the factors that determined opportunities and labour market outcomes – based on information collected via the second longitudinal questionnaire of applicants around a year after most had started full-time higher education. A significant proportion of respondents were worried about paying 'essential' costs (such as accommodation), and were anticipating high levels of debt. A large proportion of students who had not entered HE at all cited costs as a deterrent.
Source: Kate Purcell et al., Plans, Aspirations and Realities: Taking stock of higher education and career choices one year on – Findings from the Second Futuretrack Survey of 2006 applicants for UK Higher Education, Higher Education Career Services Unit
Links: Report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2009-Nov
A report (by an official advisory body) proposed a 'transformation' of the employment and skills systems. It put forward a comprehensive set of proposals designed to simplify the skills system in England, including lighter touch regulation, simpler and more flexible funding, and a significant reduction in the number of publicly funded organizations involved in the sector. College and university courses should be the subject of new league tables based on how many students dropped out, their future earnings, and how much they enjoyed their classes.
Source: Towards Ambition 2020: Skills, Jobs, Growth, UK Commission for Employment and Skills (01709 774 800)
Links: Report | UKCES press release | UCU press release | AoC press release | People Management report
Date: 2009-Oct
The Higher Education Funding Council for England published a consultation document on the research excellence framework – a new process for assessing research in higher education institutions, enabling the selective allocation of funding. It would replace the research assessment exercise (RAE).
Source: Research Excellence Framework: Second consultation on the assessment and funding of research, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Consultation document | HEFCE press release | 1994 Group press release | UUK press release
Date: 2009-Sep
A new book presented the case for widening or increasing participation in higher education for students from a range of socio-economic, ethnic/racial, and gender backgrounds, and for adults across the life-course.
Source: Miriam David et al. (eds.), Improving Learning by Widening Participation in Higher Education, Routledge (01264 343071)
Links: Summary
Date: 2009-Sep
The government announced a review of the higher education financing system in England. There would be a comprehensive examination of the research and teaching funding bodies – including the Higher Education Funding Council for England – in order to cut the costs of overlapping programmes.
Source: Speech by Lord Mandelson (Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills), 14 September 2009
Links: Text of speech | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Sep
A study provided a synthesis of international evidence on widening participation in higher education, and the initiatives that would be most applicable and useful in an English context.
Source: Jocey Quinn, Kuyok Kuyok and Sarah Minty, Widening Participation: Synthesis of international evidence, Research Report 2, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (0870 150 2500)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Sep
A report examined trends in the higher education sector, focusing on a range of statistical information on the development of higher education in continental Europe and how the United Kingdom related to it. The UK was the major European provider of higher education to international students generally – but not to those from Europe. UK universities saw a 48 per cent increase in incoming international students between 2000 and 2006.
Source: Patterns of Higher Education Institutions in the UK: Ninth report, Universities UK (020 7419 5435)
Links: Report | UUK press release | UCU press release | ATL press release
Date: 2009-Sep
A think-tank report said that the benefits claimed for vouchers as a mechanism for funding higher education were almost certainly unavailable, and that the problems to which vouchers would give rise made it highly unlikely – as well as undesirable – that a voucher system would be implemented.
Source: Bahram Bekhradnia and William Massy, Vouchers As a Mechanism for Funding Higher Education, Higher Education Policy Institute (01865 284450)
Links: Report | HEPI press release | UCU press release | 1994 Group press release | GuildHE press release | ATL press release
Date: 2009-Sep
A report by employers said that the extra money needed to fund universities in England should come from savings in the student support system. University students should pay more for their loans and accept higher tuition fees as inevitable. It also called for more sponsorship and bursaries from businesses.
Source: Stronger Together: Businesses and universities in turbulent times, Confederation of British Industry (020 7395 8247)
Links: Report | CBI press release | Bath University press release | Bedfordshire University press release | HEFCE press release | UUK press release | 1994 Group press release | UCU press release | NUS press release | GuildHE press release | ATL press release | Times Higher Education report | BBC report | People Management report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Sep
A report by a committee of MPs said that the higher education sector should have arrangements that reduced the elements of randomness and chance in the admission process, and helped to ensure students got a fairer deal on access to all universities. The system in England for safeguarding consistent national standards in higher education institutions was 'out-of-date, inadequate and in urgent need of replacement'. The treatment of part-time and mature students also needed to be improved.
Source: Students and Universities, Eleventh Report (Session 2008-09), HC 170, House of Commons Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | QAA press release | UUK press release | GuildHE press release | NIACE press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2009-Aug
A think-tank report said that the economic recession had increased the need for government action to support universities and students from low-income households. The government needed to acknowledge the important role a university education could play in upgrading the skills and capabilities of younger people. Instead of tuition fees encouraging a market in tuition rates, most universities were charging the maximum fee, and a new market had emerged as universities competed to offer a limited number of bursaries and scholarships to students. With about one-third of bursaries being allocated on merit, the government needed to examine carefully whether these bursaries did provide sufficient support for students from poorer backgrounds. Awareness of bursaries remained worryingly patchy among potential applicants. Part-time students were receiving the least amount of financial help.
Source: Kay Withers (ed.), First Class? Challenges and opportunities for the UK's university sector, Institute for Public Policy Research (020 7470 6100)
Links: Summary | IPPR press release | UCU press release | NUS press release | Times Higher Education report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Aug
An article examined the New Labour government's skills policy, with special reference to its impact on higher education in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It said that the policy aimed at the reduction of education to a matter of economically valuable skills: but that it was likely to undermine the government's objective of maximizing economic prosperity and improving social justice.
Source: Nils Lindahl Elliot, 'New Labour's skills policy at the intersection of business and politics', Policy Futures in Education, Volume 7 Number 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Aug
A think-tank report said that the government needed to invest £33 million to begin tackling the chronic underfunding of part-time students. Part-time students made up one-third of all undergraduates, but 90 per cent of them received no state financial support. Two-thirds also received no support from an employer.
Source: Anna Fazackerley, Claire Callender, Julian Chant and David Wilkinson, Educating Rita? A model to address inadequate support for part-time students, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release | Conservative Party press release | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2009-Aug
A report presented the findings of a longitudinal survey of learners, designed to assess the longer-term impact of learning on the employment outcomes and employability skills of individuals in mainstream further education.
Source: IFF Research, A Longitudinal Study of Further Education Learners Receiving Out of Work Benefits, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (0870 150 2500)
Links: Report | DBIS press release | UCU press release
Date: 2009-Aug
A survey found that some universities were failing to provide accessible accommodation or facilities to disabled students: 1 in 10 disabled students were not able to live or eat on university sites.
Source: University Challenge, Muscular Dystrophy Campaign (020 7803 4800)
Links: Report | MDC press release | Community Care report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Aug
The government announced that it would make 10,000 additional higher education places available in 2009-10 for students of science, technology, engineering, and maths subjects.
Source: Press release 20 July 2009, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (020 7215 5000)
Links: DBIS press release | Hansard | OFFA press release | UUK press release | NUS press release | ATL press release | 1994 Group press release | GuildHE press release | CBI press release | Times Higher Education report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report described the development of a bibliographic database to support the proposed 'Research Excellence Framework' for measuring research performance in higher education institutions.
Source: Evidence Ltd, Pilot Study of Bibliometric Indicators of Research Quality: Development of a bibliographic database, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs said that there had been a 'very serious failure' in the management of capital works in the further education sector, with the Learning and Skills Council failing to introduce measures to prioritize projects and control the total cost of the programme.
Source: Renewing the Physical Infrastructure of English Further Education Colleges, Forty-eighth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 924, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | UCU press release | ATL press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Local Government Chronicle report
Date: 2009-Jul
The government announced that university tuition fees would rise by 2.04 per cent in the 2010-11 academic year, but that student grants and loans would remain frozen at the previous year's rates.
Source: House of Commons Hansard, Written Ministerial Statement 1 July 2009, columns 17-18WS, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Hansard | NUS press release | Universities UK press release | UCU press release | ATL press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jul
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills published its annual report for 2008-09, showing progress against public service agreement targets.
Source: Departmental Report 2009, Cm 7596, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report said that over the period 2002-03 to 2007-08, full-time young participation in higher education in England for the top three socio-economic classes had fallen from 45.2 per cent to 41.2 per cent, whereas for the bottom four socio-economic classes it had increased from 18.1 per cent to 21.0 per cent. The socio-economic class gap between these two participation rates had consequently narrowed by 7 percentage points.
Source: Full-time Young Participation by Socio-Economic Class (FYPSEC): 2009 Update, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (0870 150 2500)
Links: Report | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report by a committee of MPs criticized the 'catastrophic mismanagement' of the further education college building scheme in England.
Source: Spend, Spend, Spend? The mismanagement of the Learning and Skills Council's capital programme in further education colleges, Seventh Report (Session 2008-09), HC 530, House of Commons Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | UCU press release | ATL press release | Conservative Party press release | BBC report | New Start report | Local Government Chronicle report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report proposed a pilot scheme designed to support a proportion of academically able students from local schools serving disadvantaged areas on a pathway to a research-led university, while raising aspirations in local schools more widely. The pilot would aim to relay the message to pupils at an early stage that if they achieved highly they would get an admissions guarantee with commensurate financial and other support.
Source: Innovative University Admissions Worldwide: A Percent Scheme for the UK?, Sutton Trust (020 8788 3223)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jul
A study examined the likely impact of changes in tuition fees on learners' decisions to participate in further education. The evidence suggested that price did affect the demand for further education. However, the size of the impact appeared to vary significantly, both between different types of further education course and between different types of learners.
Source: London Economics, Estimating the Effect of Raising Private Contributions to Further Education Fees on Participation and Funding, Research Paper 1, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (0870 150 2500)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-Jul
A report examined reforms to education for young people aged 14-19 and their likely impact on the higher education system. In England, virtually all young people entering higher education in 2010 would have been assessed in different ways from previous cohorts. Changes to the 14-19 curriculum and qualifications would mean a review of university admissions policies and entry requirements for all programmes. The introduction of diplomas might increase demand for programmes in higher education that had been in decline throughout the previous 10 years.
Source: The Impact of the 14-19 Curriculum Reforms on Higher Education, Universities UK (020 7419 5435)
Links: Report | UUK press release | THES report
Date: 2009-Jun
A think-tank report said that universities should use technology to offer more flexible provision, and to open more equal routes to higher education and learning.
Source: Peter Bradwell, The Edgeless University: Why higher education must embrace technology, Demos, available from Central Books (020 8986 5488)
Links: Report | Summary | UUK press release | THES report
Date: 2009-Jun
An official taskgroup report examined the purpose, role, and funding of higher education in Wales. It called for a national approach designed to achieve a 'step change' in the success of the sector, based on a 'National Compact'.
Source: Review of Higher Education in Wales – Phase 2 Report, Welsh Assembly Government (029 2082 5111)
Links: Report | UCU press release | Cardiff University press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jun
A paper examined the links between various measures of university quality and graduate earnings. The findings suggested a positive return to university quality with an average earnings differential of about 6 per cent for a one standard deviation rise in university quality. However, the relationship between university quality and wages was highly non-linear, with a much higher return at the top of the distribution. There was some indication that returns might be increasing over time.
Source: Iftikhar Hussain, Sandra McNally and Shqiponja Telhaj, University Quality and Graduate Wages in the UK, DP99, Centre for the Economics of Education/London School of Economics (020 7955 7285)
Links: Paper
Date: 2009-Jun
A think-tank paper examined the 'deficiencies' of the English higher education system. It contrasted the English experience with the success of higher education in the United States of America, which achieved excellent results despite the difficulties at school level in many urban areas.
Source: Cyril Taylor, How English Universities Could Learn from the American Higher Education System, Institute of Economic Affairs (020 7799 8900)
Links: Paper
Date: 2009-Jun
A report examined the differences in the participation of men and women in higher education, and in their success when there. On virtually all measures, women outperformed men.
Source: Male and Female Participation and Progression in Higher Education, Higher Education Policy Institute (01865 284450)
Links: Report | Summary | Telegraph report | Guardian report | BBC report | THES report
Date: 2009-Jun
The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills was abolished following a reshuffle of government ministers. DIUS responsibilities were combined with those of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, creating a new Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.
Source: Press release 5 June 2009, 10 Downing Street (020 7270 1234)
Links: Downing St press release | UUK press release | 1994 Group press release | AOC press release | GuildHE press release | UCU press release | ATL press release | Royal Society press release | CIPD press release | REC press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | THES report
Date: 2009-Jun
Performance indicators were published for the higher education sector in 2007-08, covering widening participation (including disability), non-continuation, and projected outcomes. 3 out of the 4 key indicators of widening participation had improved over the previous year.
Source: Press release 4 June 2009, Higher Education Statistics Agency (01242 255577)
Links: HESA press release | DIUS press release | HEFCE press release | OFFA press release | NUS press release | UUK press release | UCU press release | Leicester University press release | THES report | FT report
Date: 2009-Jun
An article examined the 'college premium' for young graduates during the years 1994-2006 – a period when the higher education participation rate increased dramatically. The growth in relative labour demand suggested that graduate supply considerably outstripped demand, which ought to imply a fall in the earnings premium. But no significant fall was found for men, and there was even a rise for women.
Source: Ian Walker and Yu Zhu, 'The college wage premium and the expansion of higher education in the UK', Scandinavian Journal of Economics Volume 110 Issue 4
Links: Abstract | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jun
A 'blueprint' was published for an alternative higher education funding system. It said that if graduates were required to contribute to the future costs of higher education, they should do so through a graduate tax on their actual future earnings, so that those who benefited the most from university by earning more would contribute more. A graduate contribution would be paid into an independent fund – a 'People's Trust' for higher education – that would be built up over time, and eventually deliver considerable additional resources for universities in the future.
Source: Funding Our Future: Blueprint for an alternative higher education funding system, National Union of Students (0871 221 8221)
Links: Blueprint | NUS press release | UUK press release | UCU press release | Guardian report | BBC report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Jun
A study found that disabled people were considerably less likely to be in higher education by the age of 19 than people without disabilities.
Source: Disabled Students and Higher Education, Research Report 09-06, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (020 7215 5555)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
A report examined the difficulties faced by students with children.
Source: Meet the Parents: The experience of students with children in further and higher education, National Union of Students (0871 221 8221)
Links: Report
Date: 2009-May
The report of an independent review said that the collapse of a multi-million pound scheme to rebuild further education colleges in England was 'predictable and avoidable', and the result of poor management at the Learning and Skills Council.
Source: Andrew Foster, A Review of the Capital Programme in Further Education, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (020 7215 5555)
Links: Report | Review press release | Hansard | DIUS press release | LSC press release | AOC press release | UCU press release | Conservative Party press release | BBC report | FT report
Date: 2009-Apr
A study found that the average expenditure of undergraduate students in their first year of study increased by 12 per cent between 2004-05 and 2007-08. This was mainly due to the introduction of variable fees in 2006. More than 80 per cent of students considered that the long-term benefits of higher education outweighed the costs, and that they would ultimately earn more as a result. Students' incomes increased by 15 per cent over the same period due to the new student support package, including the tuition fee loan. Increased financial support meant that students were relying less on family and paid work for income.
Source: Claire Johnson et al., Student Income and Expenditure Survey 2007/08: English-domiciled Students, Research Report 09-05 Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (020 7215 5555)
Links: Report | DIUS press release | IES press release | OFFA press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2009-Apr
A study found that money put into higher education institutions in England for working with businesses and the community had yielded benefits worth many times the original investment.
Source: Barry Moore et al., Culture Change and Embedding Capacity in the Higher Education Sector: Toward greater economic impact, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Report | HEFCE press release
Date: 2009-Apr
A think-tank report said that the government needed to confront the 'no-fail' culture in higher education and accept the possibility that a university could go out of business. Private providers could be allowed to step in to take over all or part of a failing institution.
Source: Anna Fazackerley and Julian Chant, Sink or Swim? Facing up to failing universities, Policy Exchange (020 7340 2650)
Links: Report | Policy Exchange press release | Leicester University press release | BBC report
Date: 2009-Apr
The number of applicants to universities and colleges as at 24 March 2009 was up 8.8 per cent compared with the previous year.
Source: Press release 23 April 2009, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (01242 544610)
Links: UCAS press release | UUK press release | OFFA press release | UCU press release | Conservative Party press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Apr
A report highlighted how university subjects designated as 'strategically important' by the government were receiving extensive financial support from foreign donors – many of which were unelected governments notorious for human rights abuses.
Source: Robin Simcox, A Degree of Influence: The funding of strategically important subjects in UK universities, Centre for Social Cohesion (020 7222 8909)
Links: Report | Summary | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Apr
The watchdog for access to higher education said that bursary take-up among students from the lowest income group improved significantly in 2007-08 – up from an estimated 80 per cent to around 90 per cent.
Source: Access Agreement Monitoring: Outcomes for 2007-08, Office for Fair Access (0117 931 7171)
Links: Report | OFFA press release | UUK press release | NUS press release | Conservative Party press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar
A report examined a range of future scenarios for variable fees, funding, and student support that might apply in England following the government's independent review of fees in 2009. It said that raising tuition fees from £3,000 to £5,000 per year would not put students off higher education.
Source: Changing Landscapes: Future scenarios for variable tuition fees, Universities UK (020 7419 5435)
Links: Report | UUK press release | UCU press release | NUS press release | THES report | BBC report | Guardian report | FT report
Date: 2009-Mar
An article used a gendered and feminist perspective to examine the extent to which notions about excellence and diversity were in tension with each other in the management of the higher education sector.
Source: Rosemary Deem, 'Leading and managing contemporary UK universities: do excellence and meritocracy still prevail over diversity?', Higher Education Policy, Volume 22 Number 1 Links: Abstract
Date: 2009-Mar
An organization representing new universities proposed a plan designed to improve access to university for those who had lost their jobs or were facing long periods of short-time working.
Source: Enrol for Free: The case for a new university offer for those on job seekers allowance and short-time working, Million+ (020 7717 1655)
Links: Paper | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Mar
An organization representing new universities said that they created significant social mobility, and that this should be reflected in higher funding and student numbers.
Source: Matt Rodda with Louise Tilbury, Social Mobility: Universities Changing Lives, Million+ (020 7717 1655)
Links: Report | Million+ press release | Guardian report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Mar
Researchers examined the role and impact of education practitioners on the higher education aspirations of young people. Encouraging a longer-term perspective on progression among pupils was often low on teachers' priorities, particularly in light of the need to focus on the exam targets on which their school's performance was judged.
Source: Fiona Johnson et al., Raising Young People's Higher Education Aspirations: Teachers' Attitudes, Research Report 09-01 Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (020 7215 5555)
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Feb
The government published a plan for implementing the recommendations of a report on promoting links between higher education institutions, businesses, and schools and colleges.
Source: National Council for Educational Excellence Higher Education Mobilisation Strand: Implementation Plan, Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (020 7215 5555) and Department for Children, Schools and Families
Links: Plan | NCEE report | DIUS press release
Date: 2009-Feb
A report examined the character, size, and scope of the higher education sector in England. The sector had doubled in size over the previous decade; and the breadth of universities' research, together with the work they did with business and local communities, had huge implications for the economy and society.
Source: Higher Education in England: Achievements, challenges and prospects, Higher Education Funding Council for England (0117 931 7317)
Links: Report | HEFCE press release
Date: 2009-Feb
A report by a committee of MPs said that progress in widening participation in higher education had been slow, despite a substantial amount of expenditure by the government.
Source: Widening Participation In Higher Education, Fourth Report (Session 2008-09), HC 226, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | NIACE press release | BMA press release | THES report | BBC report | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Feb
The number of English students accepted on to full-time undergraduate courses at universities and colleges in England increased by 12.2 per cent in 2008 compared to 2007. There was an increase in the proportion of English students classified as being in the lower socio-economic groups – up 0.76 percentage points, from 23.48 per cent to 24.24 per cent.
Source: Press release 15 January 2009, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (01242 544610)
Links: UCAS press release | OFFA press release | UUK press release | Guardian report
Date: 2009-Jan
A report called for better and closer links between employers and further education colleges, in order to help firms plug future skills gaps, drive up productivity, and improve the prospects of businesses in the face of the global downturn.
Source: Reaching Further: Workforce development through employer-FE college partnership, Confederation of British Industry (020 7395 8247)
Links: Report | CBI press release | LSIS press release | Personnel Today report | People Management report
Date: 2009-Jan
A report by a committee of MPs said that there would be a negative impact on the Welsh economy if the country's further and higher education system continued to receive proportionately less core funding than English institutions, and a smaller relative share of research funding.
Source: Cross-border Provision of Public Services For Wales: Further and higher education, First Report (Session 2008-09), HC 57, House of Commons Welsh Affairs Select Committee, TSO (0870 600 5522)
Links: Report | BBC report
Date: 2009-Jan
