Changes in Higher Education are all part and parcel of the sector but for the uninitiated it can all seem very bewildering and as if the players are all speaking in a secret code. Today Jo Johnson MP Minister of State for Universities and Science delivered the White Paper - Success as a knowledge economy: teaching excellence, social mobility and student choice . A higher education bill will follow later this week.
Many prospective students and their families may find it tough to understand the various media perspectives and worry what to focus on. To help the fabulous wonkhe shared their expert insight in concisely reporting the days events and response with more considered analysis to follow.
When you work in HE it is common to play "bingo" with all the terminology, acronyms, theories and theses. Levitate Student rather liked the comment by Emran Mian of the think tank Social Market Foundation
“Higher education is too much like a club where the rules are made for the benefit of universities. These reforms will begin to change that. Students will have access to more information when they’re making application choices; and universities will be under more pressure to improve the quality of teaching"
Certainly it can seem like a club where many staff and students don't even feel like fully signed up members even if they are paid up. Changes can often result in new students being unclear what they are signing up for.
Levitate Student is interested in money and consumer matters first and foremost. What we know from the changes on that front is that the current £9,000 fee cap will be subject to change from 2017. The level to which the fee charge can rise will be linked to teaching quality. This will serve to counter the stance taken by the unis when they were allowed to offer a "variable fee" and the majority opted to charge the maximum irrespective of their reputation, quality or league table slot. Universities will now face more regulation, requiring them to be more open and transparent about data sharing particularly regarding quality and students outcomes and destinations. They will also need to be comfortable with any new providers entering the market competing for their customers. Fees rising will displease many who fight for education for all as a right and would wish to see no tuition fees.
Fee levels will be allowed in some case to rise with inflation, linked to the Retail Price Index (rather than the Consumer Price Index) which is better for the universities purses than the student's.
In 2016/17 the Maintenance Grants (see Maintenance Grants RIP) are to be removed from the funding package in England and so the total burden of student loan is set to increase even more for future students. A niggle of doubt is a system of loans (not grants) would be easier to off load by Government in the future to private lenders. Come what may the sector is moving further and further away from non-repayable grants to support those from lower income backgrounds. Lets see how the devolved governments adjust their funding provision in time, will they follow England lead or take their own stance?
We share the hope expressed by Les Ebdon the Director of Office for Fair Access
“I welcome the increased emphasis on fair access to higher education in this important White Paper. Making sure that talented people from disadvantaged backgrounds are able to access – and succeed – in higher education is key to increased social mobility"
We like the potential for more mobility within programmes of study to include the potential to transfer more easily between institutions. This will help students with changes of circumstances and hopefully those students whose confidence builds from the point of admission. More customer choice is always welcomed though not if the resulting award is regarded as sub-standard so it will be interesting to see how this option develops. Also the new HE providers will have no track record of success and freedom to move from a poor provider is limited by the number of years of funding entitlement. Needing to repeat elsewhere because a course wasn't up to standard will only mean a wasted year of funding.
The photographed government document leaks referring to "marginalised students" does cause a doubt as to whether the hope is that these "challenger" providers are considered an option for the "marginalised". Don't worry if you are not deemed suitable for Oxbridge....you can always study at Facebook Central......
We would rather the so called "marginalised", were less so and supported through fair access to the institution of choice based on ability.
Alex Neill, Director of Policy and Campaigns at Which? said
“We welcome measures to give students more insight into student experience, teaching standards and value for money. These proposals could not only drive up standards, but could also empower students ahead of one of the biggest financial decisions of their lives."
We share this view and welcome the shift that alternate private providers must register with The Office of the Independent Adjudicator . We would like responsiveness to complaint handling improve and time scales for resolution reduced considerably.
Which reported that many universities fail to meet requirements set by the Competitions and Markets Authority with respect to how students are treated as customers. Universities do have a long way to go yet in delivering holistic, institution wide customer service excellence.
Our biggest niggle of all is not having the certainty anymore that the system a student signs up for won't be subject to significant change after they are locked in.
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