An article examined the factors that affected progression to university education across Europe. In some countries progression had been a smooth process over a number of decades, whereas in others widening participation in higher education had been only a recent phenomenon.
Source: Marios Vryonides and Iasonas Lamprianou, 'Education and social stratification across Europe', International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Volume 33 Issue 1/2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Dec
A study questioned whether the personal statement, in its existing form, was an appropriate and fair indicator of university applicants' potential. Applicants from private schools were more likely to submit carefully crafted statements, written in an academically appropriate way, and filled with high-status, relevant activities. State school applicants, by contrast, appeared to receive less help composing their statement, and often struggled to draw on suitable work and life experience.
Source: Steven Jones, The Personal Statement: A fair way to assess university applicants?, Sutton Trust
Links: Report | Sutton Trust press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Dec
A paper said that state school students in England with university-educated parents were five times more likely to reach higher education than those from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Source: John Jerrim, Anna Vignoles, and Ross Finnie, University Access for Socio-Economically Disadvantaged Children: A comparison across English speaking countries, Working Paper 12-11, Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education (University of London)
Links: Paper | IOE press release | Nuffield Foundation press release | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2012-Dec
A report examined trends in higher education over the period from 2001 to 2011. There had been rapid growth in the sector, with total student numbers rising from just under 2 million in 2000-01 to around 2.5 million by 2010-11. The proportion of the workforce aged 30–34 with a higher education qualification had increased from 30 to 50 per cent.
Source: Patterns and Trends in UK Higher Education, Universities UK
Links: Report | UUK press release
Date: 2012-Dec
A report said that it was too early to judge whether the coalition government's higher education reforms had discouraged students in general, and disadvantaged students in particular. There was no evidence to date that they had. But although increased demand might be a necessary condition for widening participation and fair access, it was not sufficient: both the total number of funded places, and the way they were distributed, might turn out to be more important than any changes in demand.
Source: John Thompson and Bahram Bekhradnia, The Impact on Demand of the Government's Reforms of Higher Education, Higher Education Policy Institute
Links: Report | HEPI press release
Date: 2012-Nov
A survey examined the reasons for the university choices made by young people who had gained at least three 'B' grades at A level. 73 per cent of high achievers at private schools applied to the most selective universities, compared with 53 per cent at grammar schools and just 42 per cent at other state schools and colleges. High achievers who chose not to apply to the most selective universities were influenced by concerns about the cost of living, distance from home, and job prospects.
Source: Tracking the Decision-Making of High Achieving Higher Education Applicants, Research Report 86, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Report | Sutton Trust press release | Offa press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Nov
Two linked studies examined the impact of new support arrangements for higher education students in England. The participation gap between low-income and high-income groups had been narrowing: but a scholarship scheme designed to help those on the lowest incomes was too complicated. Universities' financial support for poorer students varied substantially, and was more generous at the more prestigious institutions.
Source: Claire Crawford, Socio-Economic Gaps in HE Participation: How have they changed over time?, Briefing Note 133, Institute for Fiscal Studies | Haroon Chowdry, Lorraine Dearden, Wenchao Jin, and Barnaby Lloyd, Fees and Student Support under the New Higher Education Funding Regime: What are different universities doing?, Briefing Note 134, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Briefing Note 133 | Briefing Note 134 | IFS press release | ATL press release | Labour Party press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Public Finance report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Nov
A new book examined the role of higher education in supporting social mobility, from the viewpoint of students who had been to university during the previous 50 years. It analyzed these graduates' perceptions of the changes to their lives and social position.
Source: Mary Stuart, Social Mobility and Higher Education: The life experiences of first generation entrants in higher education, Trentham Books
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Nov
An article said that paternal occupation was a poor predictor of young people's intended participation in higher education, contrary to previous studies.
Source: Nigel Charles Kettley and Joan Whitehead, 'Remapping the "landscape of choice": patterns of social class convergence in the psycho-social factors shaping the higher education choice process', Educational Review, Volume 64 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Oct
The report of an independent inquiry said that postgraduate qualifications were increasingly becoming the norm for many professions and careers. But higher undergraduate fees and banks' unwillingness to offer loans made this level of study less and less accessible for poorer or debt-averse students.
Source: Postgraduate Education, Higher Education Commission
Links: Report | 1994 Group press release | RCUK press release | Sutton Trust press release | UCU press release | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Oct
Two linked reports highlighted the social value and impact of work carried out at the leading research universities.
Source: Jewels in the Crown: The importance and characteristics of the UK s world-class universities, Russell Group | The Social Impact of Research Conducted in Russell Group Universities, Russell Group
Links: Report (1) | Report (2) | Russell Group press release | Million+ press release | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Oct
A report said that part-time undergraduate study had positive effects for employers, employees, and the wider economy and economic prosperity.
Source: Claire Callender and David Wilkinson, Futuretrack: Part-Time Higher Education Students – The Benefits of Part-Time Higher Education after Three Years of Study, Higher Education Careers Services Unit
Links: Report | Guardian report
Date: 2012-Oct
An article examined efforts since 1945 to widening participation in higher education. It looked at the evidence for four key target groups – women, lower socio-economic groups, mature adults, and ethnic minorities – to produce an overall assessment of what had been achieved, and what remained to be done. Although progress in the recruitment of women, mature adults, and ethnic minorities had been substantial – albeit with some qualifications – it had been much less so for lower socio-economic groups.
Source: Malcolm Tight, 'Widening participation: a post-war scorecard', British Journal of Educational Studies, Volume 60 Issue 3
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Oct
A new book examined the evolution of policy in higher education since 1945, drawing on previously untapped archival sources.
Source: Michael Shattock, Making Policy in British Higher Education 1945–2011, Open University Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Oct
A government-appointed advisor said that improvements in social mobility could be reversed unless the government and universities did more to encourage and finance more students from disadvantaged backgrounds to take university degrees. All students from poorer backgrounds should be given an interview, and consideration should be given to offering places on the basis of lower grades than those of other candidates.
Source: Alan Milburn (Independent Reviewer on Social Mobility and Child Poverty), University Challenge: How higher education can advance social mobility, Cabinet Office
Links: Report | DBIS press release | OFFA press release | AOC press release | ASCL press release | Barnardos press release | Million+ press release | 1994 Group press release | NUT press release | Russell Group press release | Sutton Trust press release | UCU press release | Universities UK press release | University Alliance press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Oct
An article examined the implications of the coalition government's policy on university tuition fees for future economic prosperity, by modelling the relationship between higher education enrolments and economic growth in advanced industrial countries. The results showed that higher education was an important driver of economic growth, although there was no evidence to support the idea that special treatment for the 'STEM' (scientific and technical) subjects stimulated growth. If the policy did deter students from enrolling in the future, the long-term costs were likely to be significantly greater than any short-term gains to the Exchequer.
Source: Paul Whiteley, 'Economic performance and higher education: the lessons for Britain', British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Volume 14 Issue 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Oct
A think-tank report said that the cost of the coalition government's reforms to the funding of higher education would be much higher than had been admitted, and could wipe out all the claimed savings from replacing direct public funding with higher tuition fees.
Source: John Thompson and Bahram Bekhradnia, The Cost of the Government's Reforms of the Financing of Higher Education, Higher Education Policy Institute
Links: Report | ATL press release | British Academy press release | Labour Party press release | UCU press release | BBC report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2012-Oct
A survey found that fear of debt might be deterring large numbers of young people from applying to university. State school pupils in England and Wales from single-parent families were nearly three times as likely to say that their family could not afford for them to be a student as those living in two-parent homes.
Source: Ipsos MORI Young People Omnibus Survey, (2011/2012), Sutton Trust
Links: Report | Sutton Trust press release | UCU press release | Public Finance report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2012-Sep
A new book examined the effect of resource constraints (time, money, and childcare) on the extent to which lone parent learners were able to engage fully with the opportunities offered by higher education participation.
Source: Tamsin Hinton-Smith, Lone Parents' Experiences as Higher Education Students, National Institute of Adult Continuing Education
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Sep
A report by a committee of MPs said that it was extraordinary that the UK Border Agency had introduced its new points-based system for students before proper controls had been implemented to replace the old ones. The result of the Agency's poorly planned and ill-thought out course of action had been chaos: an immediate high level of abuse of the new system, and a surge in the number of student visas. Since then, the Agency had been playing 'catch-up', continually adjusting the rules and procedures in order to try to tackle abuse.
Source: Immigration: The Points Based System – Student Route, Seventh Report (Session 2012-13), HC 101, House of Commons Public Accounts Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | BBC report | Guardian report | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Sep
A report by a committee of MPs called on the government to record overseas students under a classification that did not count against the overall limit on net migration, in order to allow the United Kingdom to continue to expand its share of the overseas student market.
Source: Overseas Students and Net Migration, Fourth Report (Session 2012-13), HC 425, House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | Million+ press release | BBC report | Telegraph report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2012-Sep
An article examined the mandatory bursary system designed to widen participation in higher education among students from lower socio-economic groups. There was evidence suggesting that students targeted for bursaries were unresponsive to financial inducements, and placed a high priority on provision that was local and 'socially comfortable'. This was a fatal flaw in bursaries as a policy tool, contributing to slow progress in widening participation and promoting fair access.
Source: Neil Harrison and Sue Hatt, 'Expensive and failing? The role of student bursaries in widening participation and fair access in England', Studies in Higher Education, Volume 37 Issue 6
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Sep
A report said that universities could do more to support disadvantaged communities by using their distinctive position as leading local institutions and by recognizing the role that they could play as major local employers.
Source: Fred Robinson, Ian Zass-Ogilvie, and Ray Hudson, How Can Universities Support Disadvantaged Communities?, Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Date: 2012-Sep
An article said that reforms of higher education finance for undergraduates in England introduced by the Labour government in 2006 had provided a progressive strategy for achieving the central objectives of higher education. But the reforms introduced by the coalition government in 2012 were not a strategy but a collection of ad hoc arrangements – some good (such as a higher fees cap) and some 'unspeakable' (such as abolishing education maintenance allowances and the AimHigher programme). The 2012 reforms perpetuated the central problem of capped student numbers, and would not stand the test of time.
Source: Nicholas Barr, 'The higher education White Paper: the good, the bad, the unspeakable – and the next White Paper', Social Policy and Administration, Volume 46 Number 5
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Sep
A report by an all-party group of MPs said that the provision of financial education failed to reach the vast majority of students in further education. 84 per cent of professionals said that an inability to manage personal finances had caused students to leave further education before completing their course.
Source: Financial Education in Further Education, All Party Parliamentary Group on Financial Education for Young People
Links: Report | PFEG press release
Date: 2012-Sep
A report said that higher education tuition fees in England were the highest out of all European Union countries.
Source: National Student Fee and Support Systems, 2011/12, Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (European Commission)
Links: Report | European Parliament press release
Date: 2012-Sep
A report by an independent commission said that total university applicant numbers in England had dropped by 8.8 per cent in the first year of higher fees (2012-13). The decline was not mirrored in other parts of the United Kingdom where fees had not been increased. However, there did not appear to have been a disproportionate decrease in applications from poorer or less advantaged communities.
Source: Analysis of UCAS Applications for 2012/13 Admissions, Independent Commission on Fees
Links: Report | Commission press release | AOC press release | Labour Party press release | Million+ press release | OFFA press release | UCU press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report
Date: 2012-Aug
A report highlighted the role of further education colleges in tackling unemployment.
Source: Mick Fletcher, Tackling Unemployment: The College Contribution, 157 Group
Links: Report | 157 Group press release
Date: 2012-Jul
A paper examined the strategic options facing English further education colleges. It considered the potential to expand and develop the delivery of higher education in FE colleges; the role of FE in delivering vocational qualifications; and the future sustainability of the sector given the risk of reductions in income and increases in costs. It concluded that the sector's aspirations to enhance its impact and recognition in relation to national learning and skills were achievable, although 'not a given', with much depending on developments over the next two to three years.
Source: Simon Norton, Potential Realised or Same Old Cinderella? Future options for England s further education sector, Research Paper 109, Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance (Cardiff and Oxford Universities)
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jul
A report examined application behaviour in the 2012 university admissions cycle compared with previous years. The application rate in England (where a rise in tuition fees came into effect) had fallen by around 1 percentage point, compared with a recent trend of annual increases of around 1 percentage point: this suggested that around 1 applicant in 20 who might have been expected to apply in 2012 did not do so – a fall of 5 per cent. Application rates for young people from more advantaged backgrounds fell by more than those from less advantaged backgrounds: but rates for more disadvantaged applicants had been growing at a higher level in recent cycles – taking this into account, the proportional decline was similar across these backgrounds.
Source: How Have Applications for Full-Time Undergraduate Higher Education in the UK Changed in 2012?, Universities and Colleges Admissions Service
Links: Report | UCAS press release | Labour Party press release | Universities UK press release | BBC report | Guardian report | Telegraph report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2012-Jul
A paper said that there was an increasing tendency to treat higher education in Europe as an economic commodity – a tendency fostered by processes such as the Bologna Process and the Lisbon Strategy. It was worrying that many of the most crucial and influential decisions were taken in intergovernmental contexts and implemented by means of 'soft' law, the democratic legitimacy of which was doubtful.
Source: Sacha Garben, The Future of Higher Education in Europe: The case for a stronger base in EU law, LEQS Paper 50/2012, London School of Economics
Links: Paper
Date: 2012-Jul
The inspectorate for education and children's services said that progression to employment was not a high enough priority for further education colleges and other providers when matching unemployed adults to specific courses. Too many programmes that focused on the achievement of qualifications and courses did not extend to training that led to job-specific skills.
Source: Skills for Employment: The impact of skills programmes for adults on achieving sustained employment, HMI 110178, Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills
Links: Report | OFSTED press release | AELP press release | AOC press release | ATL press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Jul
The coalition government published its response to two consultations on the higher education sector. The number of students required for university status would be reduced from 4,000 to 1,000 – affecting about 10 institutions.
Source: Government Response to Students at the Heart of the System and A New Regulatory Framework for the HE Sector , Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Links: Response to consultations | Hansard | DBIS press release | GuildHE press release | Million+ press release | 1994 Group press release | UCU press release | University Alliance press release | UUK press release | BBC report | Guardian report
Notes: Consultation document (1) (June 2011) | Consultation document (2) (August 2011)
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined trends in higher education (HE) policy across the United Kingdom since parliamentary devolution. It focused on policies for student fees and student support, widening participation, supporting research, and the HE contribution to economic development, skills, and employability. On balance, it found as much evidence of policy convergence, or at least of constraints on divergence, as of policy divergence. Each of the factors often claimed to promote divergence could be associated with corresponding pressures for convergence.
Source: Jim Gallacher and David Raffe, 'Higher education policy in post-devolution UK: more convergence than divergence?', Journal of Education Policy, Volume 27 Number 4
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Jun
A study found that putting an individual through A-levels and university generated a £227,000 net gain for the economy.
Source: Clare McNeil and Amna Silim, Further Higher? Tertiary education and growth in the UK's new economy, University and College Union
Links: Report | UCU press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the financial implications of the higher education funding regime due to be introduced in English universities in September 2012. On average, total gross tuition fees would increase by over £15,000 per year as a result of the reforms: but students would be significantly better off while they studied due to the increased generosity of student support. The average graduate would be roughly £8,600 worse off over their lifetime, with the taxpayer saving around £3,000 per graduate overall. The new funding regime was more progressive than its predecessor: the poorest 29 per cent of graduates would be better off under the new system, while other graduates would be worse off. The richest 16 per cent of graduates would pay back more than they borrowed, while others would be subsidized. If prospective students from poorer backgrounds were aware of these facts, then, in theory, the new funding system should not dissuade them from applying to university – thus increasing social mobility in the long run. But this would require a lack of debt aversion among students from the poorest backgrounds, and the ability for the government and universities to provide students with clear information about the likely costs of going to university.
Source: Haroon Chowdry, Lorraine Dearden, Alissa Goodman, and Wenchao Jin, 'The distributional impact of the 2012-13 higher education funding reforms in England', Fiscal Studies, Volume 33 Issue 2, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Abstract | IFS press release
Date: 2012-Jun
An article examined the relationship between household income and university entry in terms of the likely consequences for social mobility. It drew on the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England to estimate the income gradients in university participation overall and at a group of high-status institutions (the Russell Group). It also investigated the extent to which these gaps might be driven by discrimination against students from lower-income backgrounds by universities, by considering income gradients in applications. Substantial differences were found in university entry overall, and at Russell Group institutions, between students from high- and low-income families. Most of the difference was driven by application decisions, suggesting that universities did not discriminate against students from poorer backgrounds: rather, those students were less likely to apply. Policies aimed at reducing the university participation gap at the point of entry were likely to face small rewards. More likely to be successful were policies aimed at closing the substantial applications gap, particularly by ensuring that students from poorer backgrounds had the necessary qualifications to apply.
Source: Jake Anders, 'The link between household income, university applications and university attendance', Fiscal Studies, Volume 33 Issue 2, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Abstract | IFS press release
See also: Jake Anders, What's the Link Between Household Income and Going to University?, Working Paper 12-01, Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education (University of London)
Date: 2012-Jun
The government responded to a report by a committee of MPs on higher education reform. It said that there was 'cause for cautious optimism' that its reforms had not generally put off applicants to higher education.
Source: Government Reform of Higher Education: Government Response to the Committee's 12th Report of Session 2010-12, Second Special Report (Session 2012-13), HC 286, House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, TSO
Links: Response | UCU press release
Notes: MPs report (November 2011)
Date: 2012-Jun
A think-tank report said that including students in net migration statistics created a 'perverse incentive' for the government to drive down foreign student numbers even though this did relatively little to cut long-term immigration.
Source: Matt Cavanagh and Alex Glennie, International Students and Net Migration in the UK, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report | IPPR press release | Guardian report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2012-May
A report analyzed the findings of a survey of various aspects of the student experience at English universities, including the amount of contact students had with their staff, the size of teaching groups, and the overall number of hours they devoted to their studies. There had been no improvement in the provision made for students following the rise in fees from £1,000 to £3,000 in 2006.
Source: Bahram Bekhradnia, The Academic Experience of Students at English Universities, Higher Education Policy Institute
Links: Report | 1994 Group press release | Russell Group press release | UCU press release | UUK press release | BBC report | Times Higher Education report
Date: 2012-May
A new book examined changes in the external relationship between higher education, government, and society in Europe. It charted how autonomy had mutated from being of integral value in higher education to becoming an instrument of policy.
Source: Guy Neave, The Evaluative State, Institutional Autonomy and Re-Engineering Higher Education in Western Europe: The prince and his pleasure , Palgrave Macmillan
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-May
An article examined whether there were systematic differences in higher education policies across 19 developed western countries. The countries studied clustered in three groups that corresponded roughly with the classical categorization (social democratic/liberal/conservative). The countries in these clusters did not, however, meet all expectations regarding the level of decommodification and stratification. Countries belonging to the social democratic regime followed the principles of the prototypical social democratic welfare regime well with respect to higher education. However, the higher education systems in liberal and conservative countries only shared some of the characteristics of a prototypical conservative or liberal welfare state. Including higher education in comparative welfare states analysis might result in a less clear-cut categorization of welfare regimes than when the analysis was restricted to social protection and labour market policies.
Source: Nienke Willemse and Paul de Beer, 'Three worlds of educational welfare states? A comparative study of higher education systems across welfare states', Journal of European Social Policy, Volume 22 Number 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-May
A think-tank report said that the coalition government's reforms of higher education funding, including fees of £9,000, would force public sector debt to increase by as much as £100 billion over the next 20 years – proving that the plans were based on ideology and had nothing to do with tackling the national debt.
Source: Andrew McGettigan, False Accounting? Why the government s higher education reforms don t add up, Intergenerational Foundation
Links: Report | Intergenerational Foundation press release | UCU press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-May
A report said that students with children were not getting the support they needed to succeed in higher education. Although the number of parents in higher education was increasing, this had not been reflected at policy level either nationally or by individual universities. The caring responsibilities of students were seldom included in wider consideration of student needs.
Source: Marie-Pierre Moreau and Charlotte Kerner, Supporting Student Parents in Higher Education: A policy analysis, University of Bedfordshire
Links: Report | Nuffield Foundation press release
Date: 2012-May
A report called on the government to do more to support mature students, who made up around one-third of undergraduates. It warned that future opportunities would be reduced if the government continued to focus policies and social mobility strategies on younger students.
Source: Never Too Late to Learn: Mature students in higher education, Million+/National Union of Students
Links: Report | Million+ press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-May
A think-tank report outlined a plan designed to overcome inequalities in access to information about higher education options.
Source: Gill Wyness, Informed Decisions: Tackling information inequalities in higher education, CentreForum
Date: 2012-Apr
A report said that further education colleges were obsolete, because they no longer equipped young people for the modern workplace.
Source: PA Consulting, Enterprising Futures: The changing landscape and new possibilities for further education, Gazelle Global
Date: 2012-Mar
A new book examined the policy and practice of widening participation in higher education.
Source: Penny Burke, The Right to Higher Education: Beyond widening participation, Routledge
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined students' choice of university. Not all students made genuine choices, and those who did tended to be in stronger social and economic positions. Where choices were made, they were infrequently based on external evaluations of quality.
Source: Jamie Harding, 'Choice and information in the public sector: a higher education case study', Social Policy and Society, Volume 11 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
A report compared higher education systems in Europe and the United States of America. The USA offered a wider and more diversified range of choice in higher education, and more Americans than Europeans attended higher education institutions. Conversely, European universities were more intellectually oriented, and European students generally were better equipped to analyze and adapt to new situations.
Source: Bruno Aguilera-Barchet, A Higher Education for the Twenty-first Century: European and US approaches, Centre for European Studies (University of Oslo)
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Mar
A report by a committee of MPs said that there were too many funding organizations in further education, none of whom – including the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills itself – accepted responsibility for cutting the bureaucracy that colleges had to deal with.
Source: Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Reducing Bureaucracy in Further Education in England, Seventy-sixth Report (Session 2010-12), HC 1803, House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee, TSO
Links: Report | ATL press release | Public Finance report
Date: 2012-Mar
A paper examined the association between household income and university entry. Although those in the top income quintile group were more likely than those in the bottom quintile group to attend university, much of this gap was explained by earlier educational outcomes. Policies aimed at reducing the university participation gap at point of entry faced small rewards: greater success might be achieved by policies aimed at closing the application gap, for example encouraging a wider cross-section of the population to apply, and ensuring that they had the necessary qualifications.
Source: Jake Anders, What's the Link Between Household Income and Going to University?, Working Paper 12-01, Department of Quantitative Social Science, Institute of Education (University of London)
Links: Paper | IOE press release
Date: 2012-Mar
An article examined what the increase in resources directed at English universities arising from top-up fees meant for the relative funding of English and Scottish undergraduates. The apparent historical advantage in funding per head in Scottish institutions compared with English ones had been largely driven by compositional differences: Scotland had a high proportion of medical, science, and engineering undergraduates. The top-up fee introduced in 2006-07 brought funding per head in England to a level similar to that experienced in Scotland, and the future increase would result in funding per head in England outstripping that in Scotland by some magnitude.
Source: Lorraine Dearden, Alissa Goodman, and Gill Wyness, 'Higher education finance in the UK', Fiscal Studies, Volume 33 Issue 1, Institute for Fiscal Studies
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Mar
A report said that, contrary to popular belief, labour market indicators suggested that there was a shortage of graduates, not too many. Technology was changing the way people worked and the structure of the labour market, resulting in an increased demand for graduate attributes. In the light of these projections, the coalition government's decision to cut around 25,000 university places for 2012-13 could seriously hold back the country's capacity for economic growth.
Source: Libby Hackett, Liz Shutt, and Naomi Maclachlan, The Way We ll Work: Labour market trends and preparing for the hourglass, University Alliance
Links: Report | University Alliance press release
Date: 2012-Mar
A think-tank report examined the potential role of universities in encouraging local and regional economic growth.
Source: Katie Schmuecker and Will Cook, Beyond Bricks and Mortar Boards: Universities and the future of regional economic development, Institute for Public Policy Research
Links: Report
Date: 2012-Feb
A report by a group of Conservative Party MPs said that a narrow focus on the university admission system risked diverting attention from the root causes of 'skewed' access. The most important interventions to promote wider access needed to be made throughout the secondary education system. It called for an urgent review of the powers and focus of the Office for Fair Access.
Source: Rob Wilson MP, Elizabeth Truss MP, Graham Stuart MP, and James Clappison MP, Achieving Fair Access: Removing barriers, realising potential, Fair Access to University Group
Links: Report | ATL press release | BBC report
Date: 2012-Feb
A study found that, following the announcement of a big increase in university tuition fees, secondary school pupils were much more likely to agree that they could be successful without qualifications. There was an impact on pupils across the secondary age range, including those as young as 11. This suggested that many young people might be considering alternatives to higher education to achieve their goals – and indeed whether such qualifications were really required at all.
Source: Tom Benton, Do I Really Need a Degree? The impact of tuition fee increases on young people s attitudes towards the need for qualifications, National Foundation for Educational Research
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined the dual role of global university rankings in the creation of a new, knowledge-identified, transnational capitalist class and in facilitating new forms of social exclusion.
Source: Sarah Amsler and Chris Bolsmann, 'University ranking as social exclusion', British Journal of Sociology of Education, Volume 33 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
An article examined the trend in expenditure per student at higher education institutions in 15 European Union countries during the period 1998-2006. There was a tendency towards convergence, which was higher after 2001 – suggesting that the implementation of European-level policies (such as the Bologna Declaration and the Lisbon Strategy) had had an impact not only in the political arena but also at an economic level. The convergence had been driven more by private financial resources than by public ones, supporting evidence for a gradual transformation of the patterns of financing higher education in Europe.
Source: Tommaso Agasisti, Carmen Perez-Esparrells, Giuseppe Catalano, and Susana Morales, 'Is expenditure on higher education per student converging across EU-15 countries?', Studies in Higher Education, Volume 37 Issue 2
Links: Abstract
Date: 2012-Feb
A new book examined the experiences of students in institutions of higher education from 'non-traditional' backgrounds.
Source: Tehmina Basit and Sally Tomlinson (eds.), Social Inclusion and Higher Education, Policy Press
Links: Summary
Date: 2012-Jan
