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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 ( ) Board Member, Higher Education Funding Council for England ( ) President, Academic Cooperation Association ( ) Pro-Vice-Chancellor [Vice-President], University of Leeds ( ) Professor of Education, University of Leeds ( ) Editor, ‘The Times Higher Education Supplement’ ( ) 3
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Higher Education in the United Kingdom:Reform or Reaction?
PeterScottProfessor of Higher Education [email protected]
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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