Universities UK’s new report ‘Opportunity, growth, and partnership: a blueprint for change from the UK’s universities’ sets out a package of reforms to widen opportunity and boost the sector’s contribution to growing the economy. We respond below on various parts of the publication.
Expanding opportunity, tertiary education & generating local growth
We support the blueprint’s ambitions for widening access to tertiary education. Achieving 70% participation in level 4+ education by 2040, as it recommends, would position the UK workforce as amongst the most skilled in the OECD and represent huge forward strides towards the mission of ‘breaking down the barriers to opportunity’ through expansion of higher level learning. There are also welcome proposals put forward in relation to student maintenance allowances, which we urge Government to implement. Our own research has shown that the cost of learning in London – which has risen more steeply than in any other English region – is now affecting not only the higher education student experience but also decisions about whether to progress to university in the first place. Without changes to student maintenance, the progress in widening participation of the past decade will stall.
The blueprint is unequivocal on the fact that universities are engines of local economic growth and capacity building. This is not a new claim, but it is one that bears repeating – and chapter 3 contains several sensible recommendations as to how the local growth role of universities can be maximised through greater coordination at regional level. As key partners in the London LSIP and the London Growth Plan, London Higher and our members can attest to the value of this form of strategic partnership working.
Some of the solutions put forward in the blueprint to expand opportunity, such as the reform of maintenance allowances, lack detailed costings. The proposed Tertiary Education Opportunity Fund is, for its part, thinly sketched and hard to distinguish from the existing Uni Connect programme. Now is the time for the sector to come together to refine and strengthen these recommendations so that they are as compelling as possible to a Government that has very limited room for manoeuvre fiscally.
Research & innovation
The sustained success and impact of the research & development undertaken by the higher education sector in the UK is remarkable. To continue to compete, the UUK blueprint has rightly pointed out we must ensure that all research is adequately funded and that universities are able undertake long-term planning. We welcome the proposals to limit the university contribution to 20% and the assurance for sector involvement in how long-term funding cycles will be implemented. However, to maximise our research impact and deliver growth, we must ensure we invest in our successes. London is home to three of the top 10 UK institutions for spin-outs and produces 38% of the UK’s student start-ups. Therefore, we must ensure that business and growth support is readily available for these new businesses, through agencies such as the British Business Bank.
Global reach, reputation & impact
After recent uncertainty about the UK’s position in the world and attitudes to immigration, it is pleasing to see the UUK blueprint making clear British universities’ commitment to global excellence and international activities, and attempting to reassert universities in their rightful place at the heart of the new government’s drive for global impact and national prosperity.
Measures to boost the UK’s competitiveness in terms of enhancing and maintaining its appeal to international researchers and technical and support staff are to be welcomed, so too is the proposal to give several Whitehall departments skin in the game via the creation of a Global Strategy for Universities. If delivered across Whitehall as proposed, this would force departments to look beyond their own areas of concern and understand better the interdependencies of policies on different areas of the university and research ecosystem, thereby lessening the risk of poor future policymaking.
The proposal to review recent visa changes, including the ban on dependants for one-year taught master’s students from overseas, nevertheless stands at odds with the idea of creating a ‘Compact’ between universities and government to ensure sustainable student flows. Any deal with government, no matter how well intentioned, is risky business and could expose universities over time, particularly nearing a General Election, to the imposition of caps or quotas, such as those currently being implemented in Canada and Australia. In delivering the blueprint, universities therefore need to tread carefully to ensure they are not giving too much away in their future relationship with Whitehall.
Regulation
Establishing greater trust between the sector and the Office for Students will go a long way in providing a lasting framework that meets the current and future needs of both students and providers. Whilst the Office for Students’ purpose of providing an effective regulatory framework is paramount, we would like to see a greater focus on reducing the administrative burden on institutions – including a more proportionate approach to our smaller specialists. The recommendation to align with European Standards and Guidelines would be a positive step, and if adopted, would help to maintain London’s, and the UK’s, position as a destination of choice on the global higher education market. Of course, all this is underpinned by financial sustainability in the sector, and we are pleased that both the Office for Students and Universities UK are seeking to work together on a coordinated strategy to address this challenge.
