HIGHER EDUCATION

Students at the Heart of the System

JUNE 2011

Higher Education: Students at the Heart

of the System

Presented to Parliament by the Secretary of State for

Business, Innovation and Skills By Command of Her Majesty

June 2011

Cm 8122 20.50

Scope of this White Paper

Higher Education is a devolved matter in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland so this is a White Paper for England.

The White Paper does not commit any of the devolved administrations of the United Kingdom to any UK-wide actions or policy positions. Where the stated actions have implications for UK-wide delivery bodies, this is without prejudice to the individual policies of the Governments of the United Kingdom. As we deliver these reforms, we will work closely with the devolved administrations on our areas of shared interest, particularly where this involves delivery bodies and other organisations with a remit that goes wider than just England.

All facts, figures, policies and actions refer to England only, except where stated otherwise. National should be taken to mean England-wide except where the context indicates otherwise.

Crown copyright 2011

You may re-use this information (excluding logos) free of charge in any format or medium,

under the terms of the Open Government Licence. To view this licence, visit

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/ or

e-mail: psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission

from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available for download at www.official-documents.gov.uk.

This publication is also available on our website at http://www.bis.gov.uk

Any enquiries regarding this publication should be sent to:

Department for Business, Innovation and Skills1 Victoria Street

London SW1H 0ETTel: 020 7215 5000

ISBN: 9780101812221

Printed in the UK by The Stationery Office Limitedon behalf of the Controller of Her Majestys Stationery Office

ID: 2438768 06/11

Printed on paper containing 75 per cent recycled fibre content minimum.

http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/mailto:psi@nationalarchives.gsi.gov.ukhttp://www.official-documents.gov.ukhttp://www.bis.gov.uk

Contents

Foreword 2

Executive Summary 4

1: Sustainable and fair funding 14

2: Well-informed students driving teaching excellence 25

3: Abetter student experience and better-qualified graduates 33

4: Adiverse and responsive sector 46

5: Improved social mobility through fairer access 54

6: Anew, fit-for-purpose regulatory framework 66

Annex: Consultation on our proposals for reform 74

Glossary of abbreviations 78

1

2

Foreword Our university sector has a proud history and a world-class reputation, attracting students from across the world. Higher education is a successful public-private partnership: Government funding and institutional autonomy.

This White Paper builds on that record, while doing more than ever to put students in the driving seat. We want to see more investment, greater diversity and less centralised control. But, in return, we want the sector to become more accountable to students, as well as to the taxpayer.

Our student finance reforms will deliver savings to help address the large Budget deficit we were left, without cutting the quality of higher education or student numbers and bringing more cash into universities. They balance the financial demands of universities with the interests of current students and future graduates. Students from lower-income households will receive more support than now and, although many graduates will pay back for longer, their monthly outgoings will be less and the graduate repayment system will be more progressive. No first-time undergraduate student will have to pay upfront fees. We are also extending tuition loans to part-time students, increasing maintenance support and introducing a new National Scholarship Programme.

But our reforms are not just financial. We want there to be a renewed focus on high-quality teaching in universities so that it has the same prestige as research. So we will empower prospective students by ensuring much better information on different courses. We will deliver a new focus on student charters, student feedback and graduate outcomes. We will oversee a new regulatory framework with the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) taking on a major new role as a consumer champion.

We will tackle the micro-management that has been imposed on the higher education sector in recent years and which has held institutions back from responding to student demand. We must move away from a world in which the number of students allocated to each university is determined in Whitehall. But universities will be under competitive pressure to provide better quality and lower cost.

Foreword

Responding to student demand also means enabling a greater diversity of provision. We expect this to mean more higher education in further education colleges, more variety in modes of learning and wholly new providers delivering innovative forms of higher education.

The Coalition will reform the financing of higher education, promote a better student experience and foster social mobility. Our overall goal is a sector that is freed to respond in new ways to the needs of students.

The Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP The Rt Hon David Willetts MP Secretary of State for Business, Minister for Universities and Science Innovation and Skills

3

4

Executive Summary1 Education should not stop when a person leaves school. The opportunities and

enjoyment it offers should be available to people throughout their lives in different forms: full-time and part-time; academic and vocational, whatever will help them achieve their goals at that stage of their life. Our education and skills systems must make this possible. We published our reforms to the skills system in Skills for Sustainable Growth in November 2010. This White Paper now sets out our policies for the reform of higher education. It builds on strong foundations.

2 Higher education has a fundamental value in itself and our universities are, in many ways, world-class: in research; in attracting international students; and in contributing to the economy. But the challenge they face is putting the undergraduate experience at the heart of the system: that is the key issue addressed in this White Paper. We will publish our strategy for research and innovation later this year.

3 Our reforms tackle three challenges. First, putting higher education on a sustainable footing. We inherited the largest budget deficit in post-war history, requiring spending cuts across government. By shifting public spending away from teaching grants and towards repayable tuition loans, we have ensured that higher education receives the funding it needs even as substantial savings are made to public expenditure. Second, institutions must deliver a better student experience; improving teaching, assessment, feedback and preparation for the world of work. Third, they must take more responsibility for increasing social mobility.

Financing students

4 It fell to the Coalition to receive the report by the Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance (the Browne Review), which was established by the previous Government. We were given the report in an environment when public funding had to be reduced and we accepted the main thrust that the beneficiaries of higher education would need to make a larger contribution towards its costs. We proposed a new system for higher education funding which gives more support to students for their living costs, ensures that no first-time undergraduate student will have to pay fees up-front and ensures graduates will only be expected to pay a portion of their salary towards the cost of their education once they are earning over 21,000. Many part-time and distance-learning students will become entitled to tuition loans to cover full tuition costs for the first time. In short, we proposed a pay as you earn system, with many of the best features of a graduate tax but without its defects, which ensures that people are only ever asked to contribute towards the cost of their education, once they can afford to do so.

Executive Summary

5 We inherited an enormous deficit which required difficult decisions. The changes to student finance have been controversial. We could have reduced student numbers or investment per student or introduced a less progressive graduate repayment mechanism. But these would all have been unfair to students, higher education institutions and the country. Instead our proposals for graduate contributions ensure good universities will be well funded for the long term. We estimate there will be a cash increase in funding for higher education of around ten per cent by 2014-15 but more of the expenditure will eventually be recouped from graduates contributions.

Improving the student experience

6 The changes we are making to higher education funding will in turn drive a more responsive system. To be successful, institutions will have to appeal to prospective students and be respected by employers. Putting financial power into the hands of learners makes student choice meaningful.

7 We will move away from the tight number controls that constrain individual higher education institutions, so that there is a more dynamic sector in which popular institutions can grow and where all universities