Publications

Read policy publications and consultation responses by the UA team.

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  1. University Alliance responds to the Higher Education reform consultation

    Higher Education funding is in need of radical reform: University Alliance responds to the Higher Education reform consultation University Alliance (UA), which represents the UK’s leading professional and technical universities, has today submitted its response to the Department for Education’s consultation on higher education reform. The representative group argues that despite the transformative potential of policies such as the Lifelong Loan E…

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  2. University Alliance sets out its vision for a successful Lifelong Loan Entitlement in LLE blueprint

    University Alliance announce vision on how to turbo-charge lifelong learning Read Lifelong learning: a blueprint for success here. University Alliance, which represents 14 of the UK’s leading professional and technical universities, has today (5 May 2022) released its LLE Blueprint. The blueprint is a vision for the successful delivery of the Department for Education’s proposed Lifelong Loan Entitlement (LLE). The blueprint imagines the changes a…

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  3. University Alliance responds to OfS 2022-25 strategy consultation

    University Alliance welcomes the opportunity to make a high-level submission to the Office for Students’ 2022-25 strategy consultation. Alliance universities are deeply committed to providing a high-quality experience for students, and we are supportive of the principles-based and risk-led approach to regulation outlined in the draft strategy. However, as a mission group of universities, we have concerns about the following three areas: Regulator…

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  4. University Alliance responds to OfS Quality and Standards conditions consultation

    Alliance universities are deeply committed to providing a high-quality academic experience for students, and we are broadly supportive of the principles-based and risk-led approach to regulation outlined in the consultation document. Indeed, we are largely in agreement with both the revised and new conditions for quality and standards. However, as a mission group of universities we are unable to lend our support to the proposals without additiona…

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  5. University Alliance responds to government reform of post-16 qualifications

    University Alliance have joined a coalition of 12 education bodies representing staff and students in schools, colleges and universities in writing to Education Secretary Gavin Williamson urging him not to scrap the vast majority of applied general qualifications such as BTECs. University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson said: “As the voice of professional and technical universities, we are concerned by proposals to limit the range and availability of…

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    Vanessa
  6. University Alliance publish their submission to the DfE consultation on PQA reform

    We welcome the opportunity to make a submission to the Department for Education’s consultation on Post-Qualification Admissions Reform. We recognise that the higher education admissions system is far from perfect, and we welcome changes to make it fairer and more transparent. However, we believe the most effective way to achieve this is through retaining and reforming the existing admissions system. If the Government decides to move to a post-qua…

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  7. University Alliance responds to OfS consultation on recurrent funding

    University Alliance calls for protection of creative arts education and re-instatement of London weighting to enable fair access to HE for most disadvantaged students Creative arts education courses must not face cuts, or the Government risks undermining its own ambitions, says University Alliance. Responding to the OfS’s consultation on recurrent funding , the mission group for professional and technical universities ardently opposed proposals w…

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    Vanessa Wilson CEO
  8. UA submission to OfS consultation on recurrent funding

    The full UA consultation submission can be found here, or summarised as: UA are strongly opposed to the reduction in funding for C1 subjects, which we believe are as strategically important as other high-cost disciplines. Firstly, they bring a significant contribution to the UK economy and provide crucial skills needed by UK businesses, both within and beyond the country’s world leading creative industries. Secondly, as the OfS notes, they ‘make …

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  9. UA submission to Ofqual & DfE consultations on summer 2021 grades

    University Alliance welcome the opportunity to make a brief submission to the Ofqual and DfE consultations on arrangements for awarding grades for GCSE, AS and A levels and awarding arrangements for a range of vocational and technical qualifications in summer 2021 focused on the proposed timeline for higher education admissions. Alliance universities accept that there will be significant changes to the admissions cycle in 2021-22 and are prepared…

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  10. University Alliance response to the Review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 in England second stage consultation

    University Alliance has responded on behalf of our members to DFE’s Review of post-16 qualifications at level 3. Our response can be found here, and summarised as: Alliance universities are very supportive of T Levels as a progression route to a range of higher education provision, and many are utilising their long-standing partnerships with FE colleges to support and promote the rollout of T Levels in their regions. However the two groups of qua…

    Read more of: University Alliance response to the Review of post-16 qualifications at level 3 in England second stage consultation