UK Higher Education: Recent Events & Trends

DR EMMA KENNEDY, QMUL

We will cover:

Significant events in government policy on HE• “Brexit”: Britain

leaving the European Union

• The Higher Education and Research Bill

Recent trends within the HE sector• Internationalisation• Increasing diversity on

campus• Changes in university

income

23 June 2016: UK votes OUT of European UnionInstitutions

5% of students from EU: potential fee losses

EU research funds = 11% of Russell Group research income

€2bn from EU Research Council 2014-16: in jeopardy?

Staff Work permits for EU nationals in UK at risk

Reduced funding to apply for

Students 125,000 EU students at British Universities (5% of total enrolment)

Estimated impact on UK economy: £3.7 bn generatedEU membership -> EU students got UK student funding.

What’s happening now?February 2017:

Parliament votes to begin negotiations

to leave EU

British Universities encouraged to

continue to bid for EU research funding

(Horizon 2020: €80bn funding)

EU students guaranteed loans

and grants from UK if they apply in

2017-18

Britain will leave the EU by 2019

Central questions and the futureFunding links with EU

UK Higher Education attracts strong fundingWill EU countries still want to collaborate with UK?Will UK academics be able to apply for EU funding?

Freedom of movement for workersUnder the EU all citizens of member states had free movementHow will the UK negotiate with the rest of the EU?What will this mean for EU citizens working in the UK?

Freedom of movement for studentsStudents will now be classed as ‘international’ -> higher feesWill the UK be less attractive to EU students?Will UK universities be less attractive to other international students?

Professor Simon Gaskell, Principal of QMUL:

“The UK has a very high reputation that has been established over decades and hundreds of years. It will be lost in a matter of months if we get this wrong, designating as universities or giving degree-awarding powers to institutions which are fly-by-night or low-quality. That is the most insidious problem.”

UK Research & Innovation (UKRI)

Higher Education and Research Bill

Office for Fair Access (OFFA)

Office for Students (and TEF)

Discipline-based funding councils (eg Arts &

Humanities Research Council)Higher Education Funding

Council for England (HEFCE)

UK Research & Innovation

Research as a public good

Maintains disciplinary brands of previous research councils

UKRI board will advise the Secretary of State on balance of funding

between research disciplines.

Legislation obliges the Secretary of State to consider the need for both academic and

business representation on the

board of UKRI.

Government is still committed to research decisions being made by researchers not by

politicians

No longer funded by the same council that

funds teaching: separate body

The Office For Students

Market regulator but sits apart

from government

Promote student choice and competition

Collecting data from universities

to give to government

Includes Director of Fair Access

and Participation (replaces OFFA)

Applies regulations and

quality standards

Awards ‘University’ title

and Degree Awarding Powers

Penalises providers who

breach regulations

Runs the Teaching

Excellence Framework

The Teaching Excellence Framework

Institution provides 15 pages additional

info

Drop-out rate

Employment/further study after degree

Student Satisfaction (NSS scores)

Panel grades on 3 outcomes:

1. Teaching Quality2. Learning

Environment3. Student

Outcomes & Learning Gain

Metrics benchmarked

against expectations for

students’ background

Access statement & compliance

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

THREE GRADES

Providers given different ratings.

The Teaching Excellence FrameworkYear 1

Submission optional. All providers who meet minimum requirements receive a rating of

“Meets Expectations”.

All these providers can raise fees in line with inflation.

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

Year 2 Providers given different ratings but everyone who gets at least a bronze rating can raise fees in line with inflation.

GOLD

SILVER

BRONZE

Year 3

Fees can rise with inflation

Fees can rise with inflation

Fees rise 50% of inflation rate

Possible Consequences of the BillUniversities will focus more on

the metrics that the TEF

measuresWill teacher

training focus on NSS results and

preventing dropout?

One metric is DLHE –> more

focus on careers/further

study?

Will students be penalised for dropping out?

Fees will rise at the ‘best’

universities

Will poorer students miss

out?

Universities that don’t fit the TEF will lose money

More providers will enter the

market – quality risk?

Will the OfS regulate the market as it needs to?

Education is seen as a

competitive market not public good

Seen as an individual

purchase not social good

Students may be viewed or view themselves as

consumers

Research and teaching regulated separately

What about linking research and teaching?

Will there become two separate

paths for academics?

Increasing Internationalisation in UK

UK universities are becoming increasingly international

Non-EU students increased: 9% in 2005–06 to 13.8% in 2014–15

EU students increased : 4.4% in 2005-6 to 5.5% in 2014-15

UK domiciled students decreased by 7% in the same period

(source: Universities UK report: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/facts-and-stats/data-and-analysis/Pages/patterns-and-trends-uk-higher-education-2016.aspx )

Increasing class and race diversity

(source: Universities UK report: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/facts-and-stats/Pages/higher-education-data.aspx)

In 2016, 19.5% of 18-year-old English-domiciled young people from low participation neighbourhoods entered higher education, compared to 11.2% in 2006.

In 2016, English pupils receiving free school meal were 78% more

likely to go to university than they

were in 2006.

The number of full-time undergraduates

from black and minority ethnic groups rose by 38% between 2007–08 and 2015–

16.

Changes in institutional income

(source: Universities UK report: http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/facts-and-stats/Pages/higher-education-data.aspx)

2005-6 2014-150%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%University Income

Grants from funding bodies Tuition fees and contracts Research Grants Endowment and Investment Other

Where now? The UK Sector

Loss of EU membership

Will the UK’s international relationships

suffer?

Loss of funding from EU sources

Loss of EU students: focus

on non-EU?

Office for Students

More power to create new HE

institutions

Creating ‘competition’ but also promoting

access

HE as regulated market: providing

more data to government

Teaching Excellence Framework

Increasing focus on important metrics (TEF,

DLHE, dropouts)?

Fees will rise at ‘best’ universities

Change in university rankings?

Internationalisation

More focus on transnational education and regional hubs?

Student support may change as international

students have different needs

UK universities’ needs at odds

with government policy around

student & post-work visas

Increasing Diversity

How to acknowledge

students’ diverse backgrounds?

More support needed around study skills &

transition to HE?

University staff are less diverse than students; is this a problem?

Income more from fees than grants

Students seen as customers not as

pupils

Education as a private good, not

public good?

Where now? QMUL• 44% of students are from overseas• 33% of QMUL staff are from overseas

Our staff and students are international

• 10% of each year of study devoted to employability skills, tailored to student’s interests and ambition

• We need to serve overseas students as well as UK students: their needs for ‘employability’ may be different

• How can we ensure what QMUL Model gives overseas students is useful to them and has international meaning?

QMUL Model

• UK staff development activities centre around Higher Education Academy – HEA has some international credit but not universal

• How to ensure staff development is certified at international level?• Development activities must give skills that can be used in international teaching contexts

Staff Development