Category: Universities UK

  • Universities must be a reason for optimism about the country’s future

    Universities must be a reason for optimism about the country’s future

    Last week, Universities UK’s members came together, as we do three times a year, to take stock of the state of the university sector. We were joined by Ted Mitchell, the President of the American Council on Education and a personal hero of mine.

    Ted joined us in Tavistock Square, where Universities UK has its headquarters, and where Charles Dickens once lived. Fittingly, he came in the guise of the ghost of Christmas yet to come. He told us about the onslaught of measures which have been taken by the Trump administration in relation to higher education and research: from the restriction of research funding on ideological grounds, to attacks on university autonomy with threats and legal action against universities which don’t comply with the administration’s demands.

    Recently, the US federal government proposed a “Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education” – a nine page document offering unspecified rewards in terms of access to federal funding for universities which voluntarily agreed to a set of commitments, covering issues ranging from eliminating the consideration of personal characteristics such as race or sex in admissions, to freezing tuition fees for five years.

    It demanded universities prohibit employees from making statements on social or political matters on behalf of the university; screen international students for “anti-American values”; and eliminate departments that are “hostile to conservative ideas.” The compact was initially offered to nine universities. When eight of them refused to sign up, the administration expanded the offer to all 4,000 universities and colleges in the US. So far, two have agreed to sign.

    Ted was asked to reflect on a simple question. Knowing what has happened, what would you do differently if you could turn back time by three years? He gave us five pieces of advice, and I think they are worth thinking about very seriously indeed.

    Ted talks, we should listen

    First: he would have listened more to the critics of the higher education system.

    Second: he would have worked to identify the weaknesses in the sector – the things that universities and colleges are rightly criticised for. The sense that the US system is “rigged” against some students, particularly in relation to admissions; that there was a lack of transparency around the costs and financial support packages on offer, such that students often didn’t understand what the deal was; and the fact that about 40 per cent of students who entered higher education dropped out before completing their degree. He would have worked hard to take those issues “off the table”, removing the grounds for criticism by addressing the causes.

    Third: he would have talked to those who were critical, especially at the political level, and asked what evidence would be necessary to convince them that “we are not who you think we are.” He would ask “how would you know we are doing better?”

    Fourth: he would strive to “move the narrative” by “bringing your case to the people you serve” – focusing strongly on local and community impact, playing to the great strengths of the US university system which is, like ours, often loved locally when it is not thought of so fondly nationally.

    Fifth and finally: he would have recognised that this is a 10-year problem which requires a long term solution, which will involve patiently building relationships and allies, but which starts with trying to get the hugely diverse US higher education system pulling in the same direction, allowing different institutions to focus on the things which matter most to them, but with a coherent guiding set of core principles behind them. These, he argued might be based on Justice Felix Frankfurter’s four essential freedoms of a university: freedom to determine who may teach, what may be taught, how it should be taught, and who may be admitted to study.

    Here in the UK

    What do we do with this advice? Universities UK has been thinking very hard about the reputation of the university sector for some time, and we have been paying close attention to the experience of our US colleagues.

    Reading the compact I was doubly horrified, both by the extremity of the measures it proposed, and by the familiarity of the issues on the table. So I believe Ted’s advice is good, and that we need to take it seriously.

    Over the next year Universities UK will start to implement a strategy that we have spent much of this year developing. At its heart is a set of simple ideas, which echo all of the points Ted made in his address to us.

    We will listen and be responsive to others’ views, including those of our strongest critics.

    We will seek to identify and address areas where we are vulnerable and will build the strategy around a willingness to be accountable and responsive. But we will do it in an unapologetically positive way, asking ourselves what the country needs of its universities now, in this decade, and the decades to come? How do we need to evolve to serve those needs? This is work we started with the Universities UK Blueprint, which was strongly reflected in the Westminster government’s post-16 white paper. We intend to position universities as a reason to be optimistic about this country’s future, the source of both historic and future success.

    We will call on all parts of the political spectrum to back universities because they are one of the things that Great Britain and Northern Ireland are best at, and to work with us to develop a long term plan which will ensure that they can be what the nation needs them to be, for the next generation.

    We will be clear that the country needs its universities to step up now, as we have many times in the past, to deliver on our promise as engines of the economy.

    We will seek to build support around the idea that we’re at our best as a nation when we are making the most of talented people from all walks of life – just as universities changed in the Victorian era to ensure that working men (for they were predominantly but not exclusively men) could power the industrial revolution, through the creation of a new generation of arts and mechanical institutes which evolved to become some of our great civic universities.

    We could do more to ensure that we can’t be accused of political bias as institutions, while defending the right of individuals to express their views, within the law, as guardians of free speech and academic freedom.

    But first and most importantly, we owe it to our students to make good on the promises we offer them about the opportunities that a higher education opens up. We recognise that we are in a period of profound disruption to the labour market as a result of a new industrial revolution driven by artificial intelligence. We are on the cusp of a major demographic shift, as the young population starts to shrink. We must show that we can be agile, adapt and prepare students to be resilient and successful as the labour market changes around them, and serve a broader range of students in more diverse ways, at different points in their lives.

    Finally, following Ted’s great advice, we will be patient and take a long term approach, and we will use that time to build relationships and allies, not by asking people to advocate for us, but by building a shared sense of vision about how we need to change to give this country the best chance of success.

    Over the course of the next year, Universities UK will start to unfold our own strategy under the banner of Future Universities. We don’t want to do this alone, but want to align with anyone who thinks that this country’s success needs its universities in great shape, doing more of the great stuff, and fixing the things that need to be fixed. Come with us.

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  • Warm words from ministers to Universities UK, but a noticeable absence of buttered parsnips

    Warm words from ministers to Universities UK, but a noticeable absence of buttered parsnips

    No fewer than three government ministers showed up to Universities UK annual conference – if you count science minister Patrick Vallance dialling in – all with only nice things to say about the importance of higher education.

    From Patrick Vallance:

    The work that you do now and your researchers and others do in the students at universities will, of course, define the shape of much of the country over the next several decades, and indeed probably for the next century.

    From minister for skills, Jacqui Smith:

    Thank you to those of you who are leading the sector and delivering all of that benefit in making our country richer, not just economically, important though that is, but socially and culturally as well.

    And from (now, following a reshuffle over the weekend, former) Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology Peter Kyle:

    When I talk about being a champion in your corner, it comes from a place that is very deep, and very personal, and very conviction-oriented. It’s because a university education wasn’t a given for me – because I fought for it – that means that I always valued it so extremely highly.

    As one vice chancellor commented to me privately, it’s like being briefly in a warm bath, or basking in the glow of a sunny morning to attend events where ministers say things like these – only to step back into the chilly reality of trying to deal with all the difficulties facing higher education institutions right now.

    The weekend’s reshuffle saw Peter Kyle take the helm at the Department for Business and Trade, with Liz Kendall stepping in to replace him at the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. Jacqui Smith retains her role as minister for skills, working across the Department for Education and the Department for Work and Pensions – either signalling a welcome opportunity for strategic join-up in a cross-government policy agenda, or a dog’s dinner waiting to happen.

    Neither seems unlikely to materially change the policy agenda for higher education in England (no, not because there isn’t one, don’t be mean) – but it could slow it down even further while ministers get to grips with their new responsibilities and reporting lines. As MP for Leicester West, Kendall has been supportive of and engaged with the higher education institutions in her constituency, so there is no immediate cause for alarm in the appointment. But everything that follows gleaned from Universities UK should probably carry the caveat that we’ll need to see how much the world has changed in the interim before drawing any firm conclusions.

    Yes, we are all individuals

    Current policy in the mix includes work across DfE and DSIT to look at the sustainability of the higher education sector. Jacqui Smith hinted that there will be more clarity on future fee levels at the same time as the publication of the post-16 education and skills white paper, but was not able to speak in much more than broad strokes about the themes of the government’s plans for higher education – collaboration, coordination, economic growth and skills, and so on. Similarly, Vallance hinted without explicitly saying it that there is a view within government that the research budget is being spread too thinly and that the presumption of broad-based research taking place in most institutions may be in the cross-hairs.

    Patrick Vallance, on the inadvisability of universities attempting to maintain a broad research base without the funding to support it:

    We can’t end up with a very, very broad range of research going on everywhere. It speaks to the question of how you get specialisation behind this and it speaks to the question of how we deal with this full economic costing versus volume [of research].

    “Specialisation” popped up elsewhere, too; witness Jacqui Smith:

    We need a post-16 system that is more able to benefit from specialisation to really drive quality, where there is a bigger focus on collaboration – within the higher education sector, but also between the higher education sector and further education partnerships at at a civic and local level, with employers, with local government, with mayors…

    And Peter Kyle:

    One of the problems is that too many universities are competing for the same pool of students at the expense of playing to their relative strengths, or truly specialising to become the go-to authority in their field rather than a bit player. In many, this is having a real effect on how resources are being prioritised.

    The theory is sound in the abstract – each institution focuses on doing the things they are already good at, and letting others do different things that they are good at, creating the space for a healthy diversity of mission, subject portfolio, and learning modality. You can even imagine the policies that might support such a shift: opening up bids for institutions to build on key specialisms or create consortia to grow demand for particular kinds of provision, for example. You could also take a stick-based approach, focusing on raising the bar to being allowed to provide in areas where the government thinks there is already over-provision.

    But you would need deep policy focus, deeper pockets, and the metaphorical political hide of a rhinoceros to pull something like that off, not least because it goes strongly against the grain of the sector and would probably cause some institutions to fall over in the process.

    Under financial pressure, vice chancellors are more likely to be thinking in terms of diversifying their offer to hedge against market instability, monitoring any signs of growth in market share among their competitors so they can do their best to grab some of it and, within course and subject areas, streamlining the offer to reduce overheads. Highly specialist provision is expensive and demand can be uncertain. And, as one vice chancellor noted privately, you don’t get the best from academics by not letting them do research, even if teaching might be considered your main strength.

    Quid pro quo or true partnership

    What strikes me in all this is that despite the warmth with which ministers talk about, and to, the sector, there is still quite a way to go to achieve the kind of partnership with government that is grounded in the will to find a common agenda and shared sense of purpose. Both sides can agree at a high level that higher education is terribly important for the country. Both, I think, can pretty much agree that while higher education as a sector continues to deliver some essential stuff for individuals, society and the economy, it would be much more optimal if the downsides of the marketised system – institutions on the financial brink, subject loss, aggressive (and sometimes predatory) recruitment behaviours, a greater degree of homogeneity of offer than might be desirable, (arguably) insufficient sensitivity of the demand-led system to the labour market – were to be reduced or disappear altogether.

    But while the framing remains transactional ie “this is the deal we will give you in return for permission to raise fees” the prospect of a deeper alliance seems remote. This may in one sense be entirely appropriate – higher education institutions are autonomous from government for a reason. But in a time of crisis there might be a case to at the very least define some shared missions or priorities.

    Jacqui Smith said that the forthcoming white paper will enact “a shift from that assumption of competition to an assumption of collaboration…[one that] requires us to think about where we put the incentives in order to promote collaboration rather than competition.” She added, in response to a question put to her by a vice chancellor, “without reverting to a sort of Soviet style planned model, the idea that there is some sort of market understanding, you described it as a “guiding mind” is something that I think we need to think hard about, and we will say more about in and post the white paper.”

    If asked how to steer a path between adopting a “Soviet style planned model” and just trying to poke the market to see if it can be moved, I’d argue that you could do worse than defining some critical areas that would benefit from collaboration in the sector, and that would require some coordination with government to move forward, and setting up some “mission boards” to drive those forward. My list would include provision of information, advice and guidance about the relationship between HE choices and future career options; student health and wellbeing; credit transfer; HE cold spots and subject gaps, for starters.

    Collaboration and coordination doesn’t come about because the government says we would like to see more of this; it happens because there is a value(s)-based rationale for it and some meaningful convening of activity. So maybe the forthcoming white paper could set out some of those agendas as a way of setting the government free from what is obviously a very difficult policy quandary. Or maybe, on the assumption the government probably doesn’t have the scale of will and bandwidth it might need to drive the changes it might, in principle like to see, the sector needs to take the lead and get on and do it anyway.

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  • Ignore the noise – university is overwhelmingly worth it for most

    Ignore the noise – university is overwhelmingly worth it for most

    New data from UCAS shows the number of 18 year old applications to undergraduate courses for autumn 2025 continues to climb, including from young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

    The slight dip in the rate of applications can be explained in part by changes around how students engage with the application cycle. Year-on-year we see decision making happening later in the admissions cycle. There is a clear disconnect between the discourse around universities and the demand for them, where the long-term trend is up.

    Universities have long been used as political currency, despite being a core part of young people’s aspirations in the UK. It is not uncommon to hear influential politicians and commentators argue against the value of a degree, even though they generally have degrees themselves. If the government has its sights set on sparking economic growth and creating opportunity across society, encouraging more people to go to university is the answer, with jobs requiring higher education expected to see the most growth in the next ten years, according to analysis from Skills England.

    There has been a tremendous amount of progress in helping people from a wider range of backgrounds go to university in recent years, and this is reflected in new UCAS data. Applications from young people from areas with low participation in higher education is at its highest level in recent years. Not only does this afford thousands more young people opportunities that they might never otherwise have had, it also has huge economic benefits for them, and their communities.

    Reaping the rewards of participation

    However, there is much further to go. You are still about twice as likely to go to university if you are from the most affluent backgrounds, compared to the least affluent. This can’t be right, particularly as the data shows that the benefits of university are especially strong for people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

    Graduates who received free school meals earlier in life get a big earnings boost by going to university. On average, they’ll earn over a third more than non-graduates from the same background by the age of 31. And the benefits go beyond salary – universities play an important role in tackling economic inactivity and unemployment, one of the government’s key battles. Overall, graduates are far less likely to be claiming benefits, nearly three times less likely to be economically inactive, and over one and a half times more likely to be employed than non-graduates.

    The data shows that there is still a great deal of progress to be made in closing the regional participation gap. In London, 58 per cent of 18-year-olds applied to university; in the North East this was only 32 per cent. In Wales, the participation rate has been going backwards. This is a huge missed opportunity for the nation.

    If the government were to work with universities, colleges and schools to ensure all young people have the same educational opportunities, we’d see more people in work and more people able to adapt as the labour market changes around them, earning higher wages and filling the jobs being created in exciting new sectors of the economy.

    And, given that graduates are statistically more likely to enjoy better health, we’d probably have a healthier population too. In the UK we’re lucky to have exceptional universities in every region of the UK, and producing and attracting more graduates to these areas could significantly boost regional productivity.

    That’s not to say that everyone should want to, or needs to go to university to have a successful career or spark regional growth, but graduates’ skills make a vital contribution to local economies. Regions with high numbers of graduates perform better economically, and these benefits spillover to non-graduates. All eight growth-driving sectors identified by the government, including clean energy and the creative industries, are dependent on a bigger supply of graduates to expand. Last year, these industries reported having a 50 per cent higher proportion of graduates than in the UK workforce as a whole.

    The bottom line

    For the many young people who don’t know exactly what they want to do in life, going to university can be the difference between gaining skills and experience that will set them up for life or falling into economic inactivity. Despite what a great deal of headlines will tell you, universities are essential to young people’s prospects in this country, and the new application data shows that young people feel this too.

    As well as the huge economic benefits for wider society, university has huge appeal for individuals. It’s an opportunity to gain career skills, immerse yourself in a subject you enjoy and meet lifelong friends. And above all, thanks to the UK’s diverse offering of institutions and courses, including academic and vocational styles, it’s a realistic goal for most people. Perhaps, in a world where young people are being increasingly discouraged about the future ahead, university represents something more optimistic, and that’s why they continue to want to go there.

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