…omic growth through this approach. These are universities undertaking world-leading research, often in highly rated STEM departments, working closely with industry to generate near-market solutions and starting new businesses. Harnessing the links and processes that allow knowledge to be shared between universities and business is of critical importance. Technology Innovation Centres will go some way in strengthening these links but they are part…
Will you want to vote on university funding and fees in the coming Parliament? Do you have a university in your constituency? This briefing paper is a snapshot of the issues which are likely to be voted on or debated during the next Parliament and the ways University Alliance can provide useful information. Universities are now major generators of economic growth for the UK and the largest employers in some cities. [Download Briefing Paper as PDF…
…A scramble for university is under way with up to 186,000 students chasing a dwindling number of unfilled places. With another record in the A-level pass rate, and 27% of entries gaining As or A*s, the competition appears more intense than ever. The university admissions service said 2010 was perhaps the toughest year for admissions for the past decade. Read the full article. …
…funding, making them more dependent on Treasury goodwill, not less as Blair-Brown intended in creating annual fees, one of their more important public sector reforms, vital to maintaining the triple-A status of this key British export industry. Browne is all but certain to propose lifting the fee cap, currently £3,250, unpopular but necessary if Oxbridge is to charge more than Bogstandard Uni. Among the evidence submitted to Browne, proposals from…
…etary said. Mr Cable was setting out a more “progressive” system of funding that includes proposals for a so-called “graduate tax”. And he admitted that as the university sector becomes more competitive, it is inevitable that some institutions will struggle and should be left to fail. Read the full article. …
…lexible framework” for VAT could hinder the potential for efficiency savings in the sector. Currently, institutions that want to share activities such as payroll management must save at least the cost of VAT – 17.5 per cent – as although universities are classed as VAT-exempt, they cannot reclaim the tax paid on the services they buy. The previous government said in the Budget statement in March that it would “consider options” for resolving the i…
…ltation question 5: Do you broadly agree that our funding method should be compatible with various modes of study, including flexible provision? Consultation question 6: Do you broadly agree that our funding method should be as simple and easy to understand as possible? Consultation question 7: Do you broadly agree that our funding model should be responsive and dynamic? Consultation question 8: Do you broadly agree that, to achieve value for mone…
…0 per year, if necessary,” the document claims. But Aaron Porter, president-elect of the National Union of Students, said this could lead to students accruing debts of more than £40,000. Removing the cap on fees would expose students and their families to “the huge risks and potential calamities of the market, abandoning them to sink or swim”, he said. The University Alliance also suggests that student loan bonds could be sold to private buyers, w…
University top-up fees would be rebranded as graduate contributions under proposals published today by a group of 23 universities. The University Alliance – which represents institutions including The Open University, the University of Hertfordshire and Sheffield Hallam University – argues that its system would dispel “myths” about an upfront cost to university study and the language of debt. Its plans would see the troubled Student Loans Company…
…o the NUS pledge not to raise fees. Meanwhile, there is no shortage of vice-chancellors willing to say that the fee cap should be raised, or lifted completely – a development that will do nothing to enhance the public’s understanding of, or affection for, fees. If we were able to step outside of this sphere for a moment we might learn some lessons about why there is such a divide between public opinion on university funding and the view from withi…