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FUTURE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES – CLARKE
22 January 2003Radical reform to make universities more open to all students and more competitive in the world economy was today unveiled by Education and Skills Secretary Charles Clarke. Launching the ‘Future of higher education’ White Paper, Mr Clarke made clear that coasting along, basking in previous successes and shirking the need to reform the sector would be harmful to the economy as well as universities and students themselves. Standing still was not an option, he said.Mr Clarke said:“Putting off difficult choices will not help universities which have suffered drift for too long. It does not help students who deserve a more dynamic education and fairer system of finance and it does not help parents who are currently having to find thousands of pounds in upfront fees. Delaying reform will not help universities maintain their world ranking status. If we do not address these tough issues and make tough choices, our economy will be the loser in the long term.Mr Clarke made clear that widening access was a central part of the White Paper. He said:“I want to confirm this Government’s commitment to get to our 50% target. We commit to that target because the economic future of the country depends on that level of education and training. I do not understand those who claim to speak in the national interest but do not acknowledge the importance of this target.“However, such a level of participation requires a re-examination of the nature and range of degree courses which we offer. We conclude that the bulk of the increase in degree student numbers should come from two year work-focused foundation degree courses. I believe that the Further Education colleges, which now provide 11% of this country’s higher education, have a major contribution to make here. “The guts of the White Paper focuses on access. It is a national disgrace that students from middle class backgrounds were three times more likely to go to university than those from poorer backgrounds.“This vicious statistic has to be reversed, though we acknowledge that this is a long and difficult process. We have to improve dramatically the quality of school and college level education in our most disadvantaged areas. That is at the heart of our 14-19 strategy announced yesterday.“We have to transform university access and admissions criteria so that universities make a genuine and balanced assessment of the potential of every candidate. We have to make sure that universities are tapping talent from all backgrounds. I believe that this requires an Access Regulator working with HEFCE, who will ensure that any university who wants to increase its tuition fee has rigorous admissions procedures, provide bursaries and other financial support and work directly with schools across the country to promote the aspiration of a university education.”Alongside the White Paper, Charles Clarke also published the annual letter setting out the Government’s 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% 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.The extra investment will enable universities and higher education colleges to make progress on a number of issues set out in the White Paper, especially:• improvements in the quality of research and how it is managed;
• an expansion of student numbers, delivered through an increase in the provision of Foundation Degrees, and an increase in the number of students drawn from non-traditional backgrounds;
• improvements in the quality of teaching and improved rewards for those providing excellent teaching, through the establishment of the new Centres of Excellence and enhanced human resource strategies which take teaching merit into account;
• increased knowledge transfer and innovation from higher education to the user community, through the development of Knowledge Exchanges;
• and ‘golden hellos’ worth a total of £9,000 over three years to academic staff recruited into shortage subjects, and who work in the sector for a period.He added:“Our universities’ record of achievement is acknowledged with a generous financial settlement. Higher education has not done well from public funding in the past. Since 1997 we have invested more, but this settlement shows that we are serious. It means that every part of the University world will be able to plan for the next three years in confidence on the basis of a secure future funding stream which is substantial and generous. “For that reason alone, I am expecting to see institutions respond positively, using these additional resources to good effect. But this is only the first step in a major reform package. Other measures in the White Paper will be phased in over time and will allow higher education institutions to generate still more resources, whether they come from the state, individual students, alumni or employers. But, with freedom and extra funding comes responsibility and we must see a return on this investment.” The Secretary of State added that a diverse University sector which welcomes applicants from all parts of the community, by a range of different routes needs to be supported by a sensitive fees regime. He said:“The new finance deal is a fair one. It gets rid of the upfront tuition fee which was so unpopular with parents and turns students into equal responsible adults who only make a contribution towards the cost of their own higher education once they are earning a good salary and reaping the benefits of their university experience. “We are also re-introducing grants of up to £1000 to help the most disadvantaged students see their way through their university years and we will continue to exempt up to 40% of students from the first £1,100 of fees in the same way we do now. It will remain the case that the British system of student support will be among the most generous in the world.” The deal for students will be brought in through two phases so that there will be benefits for some current students already in the system. Phase one benefits include:• From 2004 we will introduce a new grant of up to £1000 per year for those students from households with incomes of £10k or less a year. Some grant assistance will also be available to those whose families earn up to £20k a year.
• The Government will continue to meet the full £1,100 cost of tuition fees for students with family incomes of up to £20,000 and with part payment for those whose family incomes is between £20,000 to £30,000.
• From April 2005 the earning threshold at which you will pay back student loans will be raised from £10k to £15k. This will apply to all new students from this date and all past students who took out loans from 1998. This will save every student £450 and will be a particular help for those on low income or who have just graduated. On a £20,000 salary, yearly payments will be reduced by 50%. Repayments are already and will continue to be linked to salary and therefore the individual’s ability to pay.From 2006:• Universities will be entitled to set their own fees for individual courses, from £0 up to £3,000 capped for the whole of the next Parliament, rising in line with inflation. Raising above the current level of £1,100 is subject to an ‘Access Agreement’.
• No student or family will be required to pay a fee while or before they are studying;
• As a further move towards student independence at 18 we will review the level of means-tested parental contribution to maintenance at the next Spending Review.
• As now, no real rate of interest on the deferred loan, there will only be an inflation linked rise so students only pay back the “real” value of their fee and maintenance loan.The Secretary of State pointed out that British Universities are a great success story. Their record on research, on provision of higher education opportunities for hundreds of thousands of young people, and on linking university research to economic achievement is second to none. However, reform is needed to keep our universities competitive. He said:“Our universities exist in an increasingly dynamic and an increasingly competitive world and doing nothing is not an option. Continuing along the path of the past offers no robust future for our universities. We must face up to the fact that international competition from emerging universities in China and India, as well as the USA, changes the terms of trade for the UK’s great historic Universities.“In a world of accelerating change, we all need to understand that our society’s principal weapon in ensuring that we master change, rather than surrendering to it, is our education system, and principally our Universities.“As a result our Universities have to identify more clearly than they do now the way in which they address the great missions on the basis of which they were created. Those missions are research, knowledge transfer and, perhaps most important of all, teaching. Over the years, much emphasis has been given to research, for understandable reasons, but not enough to teaching and to knowledge transfer.“So on research we argue that we need still more focus upon world-class research. We state that the funding regime should encourage research collaboration, should promote research concentration and should strengthen the highest world-class research in the country. “In future, public funding for research for the lower-rated departments will depend on research plans showing how improvements will be made. It means establishing a new 6* grade of research and it means giving extra resources to our world-class institutions. We will also create a UK-wide Arts and Humanities Research Council to ensure that funding for Arts and Humanities is given the status it deserves.“For the transfer of knowledge this approach means an increasingly intimate relationship between my Department and the DTI. We cannot address innovation without addressing skills, and we cannot address enterprise without improving the relationship between universities and business. “That is why the Chancellor established Richard Lambert’s review of the university-business relationship and that is why this White Paper commits the Government to setting up a network of Knowledge Exchanges, primarily focused in Universities which are not research-intensive, to develop this relationship.“We have to crack the real British disease – which is that our world-class intellectual research is exploited by competitors from other countries but not ourselves – and make sure that we lead the process of knowledge transfer from research to business both nationally and regionally. We believe that a far closer relationship between Universities, the RDAs and the new Sector Skills Councils is necessary and the White Paper sets out ways in which this can be achieved.“But the main function of universities must be high quality teaching. That is why the White Paper is giving a far stronger focus to teaching, a focus which is reflected in a significant stream of resources within the funding settlement.“We will publish a comprehensive review of university teaching standards, published by HEFCE and the NUS. We will establish new national professional teaching standards and we will target pay resources to those universities which reward high quality teaching. We will also establish new Centres of Excellence in teaching, and we will reward teaching excellence.“In addition we will recognise excellent teaching as University mission in its own right by making the award of university title dependent on undergraduate teaching degree awarding powers only.“Let there be no mistake. All Universities will, in future, be judged by their teaching achievement as much as by their research attainment. The days of great research underpinned by shoddy teaching are gone. “In return for this reform, universities will be given greater freedom than ever before. They will be given the right to set their own fees and therefore be given a market incentive to provide the best courses for students and the economy. They will be given more freedom in choosing their individual mission, to specialise and play to their strengths and they will be given financial incentives to build up their own endowments and other forms of revenue. “Universities in this country need to build up endowments. There are already substantial incentives for both individuals and corporate bodies to donate to universities but they are not sufficiently understood and used. The White Paper sets out how as a matter of priority we will promote this for graduates, institutions and government. “Promoting endowments is the right long term strategy but it will inevitably take many years to build up substantial funds. The spending settlement addresses the short term needs but Universities must have funding streams that are sustained.
Editor's Notes
This press notice relates to England
NOTES TO EDITORS 1. Clic here for White Paper - The Future of Higher Education ( http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/highereducation/hestrategy/pdfs/DfES-HigherEducation.pdf 2. Click here for Statement by the Secretary of State ( http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/highereducation/hestrategy/pdfs/CharlesClarkeHEStatement.pdf )3. Click here for Shorter document for students and parents "What it Means to Students and Parents" ( http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/highereducation/hestrategy/pdfs/DFES )4. You can order priced copies of the 'Future of Higher Education' by contacting 0870 600 5533 or emailing orders@theso.co.uk quoting reference number: CM 5735.
For free distribution to education departments please contact Prolog on 0845 6022260 or email dcsf@prolog.uk.com quoting reference number HES10.
A summary leaflet with be available from Prolog and free of charge from Monday 27 January 2003.
Contact Details
Public Enquiries 0870 000 2288, info@dcsf.gsi.gov.uk
Press Notice 2003/0008
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