HEFCE review of TRAC (Transparent Approach to

Costing)

Steve Egan Deputy Chief Executive, HEFCE

Issues and proposals in the consultation

The challenge set by the White Paper• Consult the HE sector on radically streamlining the reporting

requirements of TRAC

• Consider how TRAC data might be used to promote greater transparency and help inform the choices of prospective students

• Public accountability

• HEI decision-making

• Pricing of research projects

• Fee setting

• VAT Partial Exemption

• EC Framework Programme 7 – Full cost method

• Multiple uses, a single system

Uses of TRAC

Additional funding for financial sustainability (£M)

Key questions

Are there alternatives to TRAC?

Costs of TRAC

• Costs of operating TRAC are low – evidence in KPMG Review

• And would be incurred by many HEIs in any case when they evaluate costing for their own purposes

• TDG Review of Time Allocation Methods o just over 2 hours per year for academic

staffo 70% of HEIs would collect data on time

allocation, even if TRAC were not a requirement

o benefits not well understood

Key question

Are there ways to reduce the costs of TRAC?

Use of TRAC by HEIs

NAO Report (March 2011)

• 53% used TRAC data to inform fee setting

• 52% used TRAC data for benchmarking

• 43% used TRAC data to inform strategic decisions on their teaching and research portfolios

Other uses:

• Pricing research projects – fEC recovery

• Course costing

Key questions

Are there ways to improve the benefits delivered by TRAC?

Can TRAC deliver greater utility and benefits more widely across HEIs?

Improving transparency

Competition issues

Student needs Public accountability

Key questions

Would this information be helpful to assist prospective students in their choices of course or where to study?

What are the issues around providing greater transparency on how public funding for higher education is spent?

Do you have suggestions about how HEIs can present information to students on how their tuition fees are spent?