HE White Paper - key points and reaction

28 Jun 2011

The Higher Education White paper is now published. The following is a very quick summary of the main points. Further analysis to follow.

The document signals its intention through its title: 'Students at the heart of the system'. But Les Ebdon, chairman of Million+, and vice-chancellor of the University of Bedfordshire disagrees, saying the plans are 'in the interests of the Treasury not in the interests of students'. He adds that they will jeopardise social mobility.

Key Points

Amongst the key points in the White Paper are plans to:

Free up student number controls by making around 85,000 places contestable among universities in 2012/13. This will be achieved through unrestrained recruitment of the 65,000 high-achieving students who typically get AAB grades, and by creating a flexible margin of 20,000 places to reward quality providers charging an average of £7,500 or less for tuition.
Ensure that the Office for Fair Access is properly resourced so that it can go further and faster to drive fair access for students from lower income families and widen participation
Enable a wider range of providers to join the sector to offer more choice for students
Promise less regulation and bureaucracy for universities.
Ensure better information for students before they apply, better teaching while at university, greater transparency in areas such as feedback on their work and better preparation for the job market
Make universities more accountable to students on teaching quality, who can trigger quality reviews where there are grounds for concern
Review the extent to which Student Charters are adopted and whether they should be made mandatory in the future
Ask Professor Sir Tim Wilson to undertake a review into how university-industry collaboration can excel: the review will look at how the decline in sandwich courses can be reversed
Encourage universities to engage actively with employers to accredit or “kitemark” courses to indicate to students that they are valued by them.

Encouragement for new & private providers

The measures to encourage new providers into the system include:

From 2013/14, ensuring a more consistent approach to student support to all institutions, whatever their nature (including FE colleges and private institutions).
As a first step, allowing all students at all private institutions access to £6,000 fee loan from September 2012, in line with the loans for students at all institutions without an access agreement with Offa.
Allow non-teaching institutions to award degrees.
Consult on the criteria and processes for institutions wishing to gain the university or university college title. In particular, it is intended to drop the requirement for an institution to have at least 4,000 students to become a 'university'.

There will be a period of consultation on the proposals outlined in the White Paper and, subject to parliamentary timetabling, a Higher Education Bill will be brought forward in 2012.

The government also plans to consult on measures not included in the White Paper, including:

Proposals for a single regulatory regime covering all institutions wanting to be recognised in the English higher education system.
Early repayment mechanisms for student loans that would allow graduates to pay back their loans early without undermining the progressive nature of the system overall.

Willetts: universities should see selves as part of the private sector

Speaking on BBC Radio 4 this morning, the Universities Minister, David Willetts, said the reforms would put students in the 'driving seat' and create 'a real incentive for universities to focus on the quality of the teaching experience'. He promised to 'dismantle the very detailed controls over the system'.

In his most radical statement, he said he wanted universities to be in the mindset that they are not in the public sector'. He added: 'if there are alternative providers they will have the same possibilities (as existing universities) and they will be regulated on the same basis'.

Reaction

But the Shadow BIS Secretary, John Denham, said it was ‘another case of a Tory-led government making it up as they go along’. He added: ‘The White Paper will sacrifice quality in an attempt to tackle the fees crisis caused by government incompetence. Universities should be able to concentrate on working with business on the skills, growth and jobs needed to ensure we can pay our way in the future, not be distracted by the fallout of a policy that was unfair, unnecessary and unsustainable’.

The University & College Union General Secretary, Sally Hunt, said 'trying to force down the cost of a degree after the government got its sums wrong will not solve the funding crisis it created.. The only thing the government is likely to force down is quality'.

She added that these 'US-style reforms', aiming to inject market forces into the university system, were heading for 'an NHS-style crash'.

User Comments

Dr.Peter Asquith-Cowen - 29 Jun 2011

The Universities White Paper.

Morning Mike,
Yes, I thoroughly endorse everything John Denham and Sally Hunt have said. This Government can be accused of a number of things, but the funding crisis in university tuition fees is an unforgivable blunder; however, I've said it before and I will reiterate my own words. Ignore the rhetoric,the palliatives and excuses: The main objective of this Coalition Government is 'Privatisation'. As the High Street crumbles (TJ Hughes, Thornton's etc)many students - according to Radio 4 this morning - are looking to attend courses at Scottish universities. The whole thing is barmy! These young people are our future. From Thatcher downwards, successive Tory administrations have 'targetted' the Public Sector. Is there any wonder that Public Sector workers are coming out on strike tomorrow? Only a lunatic would accept their Conditions of Service being changed in the manner the Government proposes. Never were so many lies and untruths spouted forth by so few to so many (forgive my Churchillian pun!). This country is awash with money but it is in the hands of the few and needs to be re-distributed. For starters: tax the obscene pay of footballers. Nationalise the banks and tax bankers heavily and prevent them sending profits 'off shore' and stop bonuses at a pen stroke. Here's just two areas where revenue could be obtained to support the Public Sector.However, Ed Milliband, by his own words is NOT the man to lead the Labour Party. By asking Public Sector workers to carry on working, he has scored an 'own goal' and might as well cross the floor of The House. He should know that like oil and water, Tory and Labour ideologies are and always will be incompatible. We need the likes of Dennis Skinner, (Lord) Prescott or Alan Johnson to lead a Party that seems to have become - thanks to Tony Blair - the left wing of the Conservative Party. If the High Street is collapsing, it is as a result of inept, ill-considered and crazy Tory fiscal policies. Increasing VAT and giving a 'free-hand' to energy companies mean people are forced to "Save to Pay". The former (Public) Utilities were stolen from the people, and should be re-nationalised sod the cost. We need to adopt the same mentality as the Greeks. If the Euro isn't working, then ditch it and get out and create our own. Now is the time for the disaffected students to join tomorrow's Strike. Bring the whole rotten lot tumbling down and let's sort this country out proper. I'm not at all surprised Oxford University has given Willets a 'Vote of No Confidence'. Michael Gove is crassly incompetent and irresponsible to encourage a "Mum's Army" to man schools tomorrow without proper checks. So the care and safety of our children can be swept aside to suit Government policy! Shame on you Mr.Gove! You should go like John Patten did. You are messing around with something you obviously don't fully understand - Education - You should resign and let someone with more common sense and responsibility take over. (Hope your health is improving, Mike, and you are responding well to treatment.)

From Peter.

Tricia Scott - 29 Jun 2011

re: point in your summary of the HE white paper

Reading through your summary - thankyou! - one particular point caught my eye - the idea that employers should be encouraged to accredit or “kitemark” courses. I briefly worked at the Learning & Skills Council (an experience I generally prefer to forget). One of my projects was to find a way to make the then DfES's idea of an Employer's Guide to Good Training a reality. The project was never going to work. There was no agreement among the very wide range of sizes and sectors of employers as to what constituted "good" training. There, too, we talked about a kitemark for FE colleges or courses. But FE associations had to be included in the process and weren't keen on anything that made plain that some colleges weren't as good as others - again the arguments always came back to what constitutes good? Whose standard? As far as I understand it, the project was allowed to quietly die. If it couldn't work for FE colleges, where education is far more closely aligned with employability, I can't imagine it working for HE.
Do ministers never learn from past mistakes?

John Mansfield - 18 Jul 2011

Private Education providers

Mike,
I have a website:
http://motorsportuniversitymalaysia.com/
Which outlines a plan I first came up with when I was working for Lotus Cars in Malaysia.
At the time I was asked to draw up a plan for training. I had a blank sheet of paper. Obviously I was not in the public sector. I have had plenty of training by way of private providers and have never found them lagging behind public sector institutions.
This is only my personal experience for what its worth.
Good luck with your health issues.

Lisa - 09 Mar 2012

Education

I would like a cup of tea and a cake with you Peter...