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Higher Education in the United Kingdom:Reform or Reaction?

PeterScottProfessor of Higher Education Studiesp.scott@ioe.ac.uk

Centre for Higher Education Studies

About me

• Professor of Higher Education Studies, Institute of Education University of London (2011-)

• Chair of Council [Board], University of Gloucestershire (2011-)• Vice-Chancellor [President], Kingston University (1998-2010)• Board Member, Higher Education Funding Council for England (2000-

2006)• President, Academic Cooperation Association (2000-2008)• Pro-Vice-Chancellor [Vice-President], University of Leeds (1995-1998)• Professor of Education, University of Leeds (1992-1998)• Editor, ‘The Times Higher Education Supplement’ (1976-1992)

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Plan of presentation

Higher education in the UK: statistics, characteristics

21st-century challenges and opportunities The Government’s higher education reforms

(in England) Conclusions – and discussion

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Higher Education in the United Kingdom

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Higher Education in the UK: 1STUDENTS 2.4 million students – compared with 1.5 million in 1998 England – 2 million; Scotland – 230,000; Wales – 125,000 Undergraduate – 1.85 million; Postgraduate – 540,000 International students – 250,000; Other EU students – 120,000 Most popular subjects: business and management, subjects

allied to medicine, education, social studies, biological sciences...

Three-quarters of applicants accepted as students Participation rate – 45%

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Higher Education in the UK: 2INSTITUTIONS 165 Higher Education Institutions (England – 131; Scotland –

19; Wales 11) 115 Universities and 37 University Colleges – plus specialist

institutions, e.g. art colleges, music conservatoires Average size – 14,500 students (but 50 institutions have more

than 20,000) Average income - £154 / $230 million – but more than 40

universities have incomes of more than £300 / $450 million

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INCOME: £25.3 / $33 billion – a third from Government (via Funding Councils); 30% from student fees; 16% from research grants and contracts

EXPENDITURE: £24.9 / $38 billion (57% on staff costs)

PUBLIC EXPENDITURE AS % OF GDP: 0.85% (OECD average 1.03%; Highest – Finland 1.63%)

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Higher Education in the UK: 3

Higher Education in the UK: 4FUNDING OF INSTIUTIONS‘Block grants’ from Funding CouncilsT (Teaching) funding calculated by formula (‘like funding for like

provision’) R (Research) funding allocated selectively (‘funding excellence wherever

it is found’)Student feesUK and other European Union students (up to a maximum of £3,300 –

soon to be increased to £6,000 - £9,000)Other incomeResearch grants / contracts, commercial income etc.9

Characteristics of UK HE Mass – with elite features, e.g. low wastage Rapid expansion (55% growth in past 10 years) Unified – but differentiated ‘Excellent’ – as measured by scientific

citations / global league tables Public (but not State) >>> private

(entrepreneurial?)

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UK higher education: past 50 years Mass higher education (40+% participation, ending of

the binary system...) – but with many elite features (low wastage, teaching – research links…)

Intensification of research culture:QUALITY: RAE/REF, ‘world-leading’ universities…BREADTH: Application of research, HEIF, ‘enterprise’…

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21st-century challenges and opportunities

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Fernand Braudel 1902-1985

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Layers of historical change

Histoire evènèmentielleElections, political revolutions, economic cycle,

celebrities / mass media…Longue duréeDemography, geography, climate, social change,

cultural revolutions…

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Changes in deep structure 1KNOWLEDGE SOCIETYFewer low-skill, more high-skill jobs‘Race to the top’SOCIAL IDENTITYEducational attainment / cultural capitalGender (and other) revolutions, new social movementsPOLITICAL CULTURE‘Market state’24-hour politics

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Changes in deep structure: 2TECHNOLOGY ‘Black box’ technologies Instant-access data Rival expertsGLOBALISATION ‘Clever cities’ – and world cities Clash of civilisations (multiple ‘globalisations’) Inequality – and the environment

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Impact on higher education 1

STUDENT DEMAND Specific factors – qualifications and demography ‘Graduate society’

COURSES, CURRICULUM, LEARNING & TEACHING ‘Vocationalisation’ of higher education Student expectations / culture

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Impact on higher education 2RESEARCH ‘Mode 2’, triple helix… Third stream and enterprise RAE >>> REF (impact)

UNIVERSITIES AS ORGANISATIONS Expansion = complexity External stake-holders Dearth of public funding

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Histoire evènèmentielle

Institutional landscape – largely unchanged since 1960s

System structure – binary system abandoned (fait accompli?)

Funding system – ‘arm’s length’ >> ‘delivery’; block grant >> T + R

Student support / fees – grants >> loans >> fees

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3. The Government’s reforms

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‘Headline’ reforms

Tuition fees tripled to maximum of £9K / $13.5K (tuition free until 1998)

State loans to pay fees, payback in work No (direct) public funding for lower-cost

subjects (i.e. humanities and social sciences) More low-cost / private providers

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Milestones of reforms: 1 2008: Labour Government initiates debate about future of

HE / commissions reports on key topics 2009-10: Browne Committee established by Labour

Governments – reports to new Conservative-Liberal Democrat Coalition Government

2010 (October): immediate Government reaction to Browne – key recommendation (no fee cap but income taper) rejected

2011 (June): HE White Paper (policy document) published – after many delays

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Milestones of reforms: 2

2011 (November): New student number control – but (i) ‘free market’ in students with top grades; and (ii) extra places for low-fee institutions

2012 (spring): Decision taken not to introduce legislation

2012 (summer): ‘free market’ in top students extended, extra places for low-fee institutions downsized

2012 (September): 14-per-cent reduction in first-year enrolments

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‘Knowns’ Limited fee variation = failure to create ‘true’ market ‘Graduate tax’ (non-repayable in full by almost half of

graduates) No actual saving in public expenditure – in short run

(or ever?) Students with top High School grades ‘off quota’ Short-term collapse in student demand (!4% down) HEFCE as ‘lead’ regulator + substantial funder

(research and science / medicine / engineering)

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‘Unknowns’ Longer-term impact of high fees on student demand Price sensitivity among students (benefit now, pay later) What do students really want? (KIS) More spending cuts >> more cuts in HEFCE funding, i.e.

Science / medicine / engineering + research) Private providers (market entry) / FECs (extended roles) Impact of ‘other’ factors, e.g. visas (London Met),

Devolution

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Four ‘stories’: interpreting reformThe death of public higher education:

privatisation and nationalisationThere is no alternative / ‘cruel necessity’: filling

the funding gap + more differentiationSlow-motion car crash: making rhetoric fit

reality = unsustainable / unstable reforms?‘Things must change so that things may stay

the same’ (Giuseppe di Lampedusa)26

4. Questions and discussion…

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