…ring 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. …
…tax does not do that quickly enough. It would exclude those who do not pay UK income tax or chose to graduate abroad. There would have to be cut-offs and exemptions, as Browne’s researchers are discovering. Worse for universities it would again centralise 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 tri…
…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. …
…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…
…nd the language of debt. Its plans would see the troubled Student Loans Company replaced with a “Graduate Contribution Agency”. Read the full article ….
…lves signing up to 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 th…
…UCAS data release 8 February 2010). Steve Smith, President of Universities UK has commented: “Last year about 160,000 students who applied didn’t end up going to university. This year, we already know that there are about another 75,000 applying for university. So… there will be a lot of students this year who do not get a place at university.” University Alliance represents 22 universities at the heart of the sector. There have been significant i…
…In the university world, differences of opinion are nothing new. But the outcome of this one might just change the character of higher education itself. Universities are at odds over the future of postgraduate study, with a Government review on the subject, due to report in the spring, setting up sharply diverging views on how PhDs should be funded just as finances for the sector as a whole come under huge pressure. Read the full article….
…nd quality at a University Alliance Quality Seminar held on 18 February 2010. Our response highlights the key issues raised by Alliance universities and is intended to complement the individual and more detailed responses of our members. [Download consultation response as PDF]…
