An independent review of higher education & student finance in England.

Call for Evidence

Update: The submissions to the first call for evidence are now available

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We are using this first call for evidence to gather a wide range of perspectives on the current system of higher education funding and student finance. In particular, we are aiming to assess the impact of the 2006 introduction of variable tuition fees and the accompanying student finance changes. We are also keen to understand the key trends in higher education that you think we should have in mind when thinking about future policy.

We will issue a future call for evidence in early 2010 to ask for views on the principles to orient our recommendations about the future.

This call for evidence is organised by some basic questions about our current system and then three themes that we have found useful in thinking about the relative success of it.

• Participation: does our education system make high levels of participation possible, with access determined by ability and the potential to succeed, to ensure that the social, economic and individual benefits of higher education are maximised and shared across our society?
• Quality: does the higher education system provide the quality and academic standards that students, employers and national economic needs require?
• Sustainability: is the system affordable in the long-term for all those who invest in it, including students and the state?

We welcome responses to this call for evidence as soon as possible. Responses must be submitted via the Review website (www.independent.gov.uk/hereview).

On the basis of responses received during December and early January, we will invite selected experts and representatives of different interests to give oral evidence at public hearings that will be held towards the end of January. The call for evidence will formally close on 31 January 2010.

All responses will be published on the Review website shortly after they are received. We will publish a descriptive summary of the responses after the closing date.

Unless you state otherwise, we will assume that you are happy for us to publish your response. Evidence and analysis may in some cases be subject to disclosure following requests under the Freedom of Information Act. A potential exemption to disclosure under the Act is for confidential information. Therefore, if any of the evidence or analysis submitted to the review is confidential please mark these sections of the evidence and analysis clearly.

Introductory questions

1. What has worked? Which parts of the system should be kept, based on the available evidence?
2. What has not worked? Which parts of the system should be changed, based on the available evidence?

There were two million higher education students in England in 2007/08 following an increase in enrolments of approximately 20% in a decade.¹ Since the 2006 changes, demand for higher education has continued to increase, though with signs of a decline in demand for part-time study.

International comparisons of net entry rates to tertiary level education place the UK just below the OECD average of 56%; countries such as Australia, Sweden and Finland all have entry rates of over 70%.² The percentage of working age adults in England holding qualifications to higher education level stands at 31% in 2008, compared to 25% in 2001.³

Within this picture of overall participation, young people from the top three socio-economic classes are twice as likely to participate in higher education than those from the bottom four classes – with respective participation rates of around 40% and 20% for those aged 18 to 20, largely reflecting educational inequalities already visible in school.⁴

Participation questions

1. How have the participation trends for different groups of students changed since 2006 and to what extent can these be attributed to the 2006 reforms? Please highlight changes that have been positive or neutral as well as changes that may raise challenges for future policy.
2. What can we learn from international trends in participation, in particular are there models of higher education provision elsewhere that deliver higher levels of participation than England with comparable quality and levels of investment?

International league tables suggest we have a high-quality system of higher education: 4 of the top 10 and 15 of the top 100 universities in the world are in England.¹ 81% of students report that they were ‘definitely or mostly satisfied’ with their higher education courses (broadly the same as the previous year, where 82% indicated they were satisfied.² International student satisfaction is also high (82%) and the UK is enjoying high rates of growth in demand from international students at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.² The majority of UK graduates indicated that given the opportunity to choose their higher education course again, they would be unlikely to change the subject (71%), the institution where they studied (77%) or the qualification level (77%).³

Graduates, on average, earn £100,000 more over their working life net of taxation than an individual whose highest qualification is 2 or more A Levels.⁴ However, this average obscures a wide range of returns to individuals. Individuals with higher qualifications are also more likely to be employed,⁵ actively participate in civil society – e.g. in volunteering – and less likely to be a smoker or obese.⁶

Quality questions

1. Have there been identifiable improvements in the quality of teaching in the period since 2006?
2. Is the higher education system providing the quality and academic standards that students, employers and national economic needs require? What are the key areas where quality needs to improve further? Please focus on those areas where the levers available to this Review of funding and student finance can make a difference.

Around £5bn of public funding for teaching will be provided to institutions in 2009-10 via the Higher Education Funding Council for England, equivalent to almost £4,300 per fundable student.¹ Public funding of student grants and loans – with loans in resource terms (just the estimated cost of future interest subsidies and write-offs) – was around £1.3bn in 2003-04 and will double to £2.7bn by 2010-11. This represents a cash outlay by Government of around £7bn. The cost has been rising primarily due to the additional grants and fee loans available to full-time students since 2006/07.² The outstanding stock of student loans, funded by public borrowing, stood at £26bn in March 2009 and is currently growing at close to £4bn per year.³ The volume of outstanding loans can be expected to increase for the next twenty years – stabilising by 2030.

Private contributions to fees vary substantially by mode and level of study. The net additional income to institutions, from variable tuition fees for home full-time undergraduates, has amounted to almost £0.5bn in 2006-07 and £0.9bn in 2007-08 and is expected to reach £1.3bn in steady state.^4,5 The majority of students agree that student loans are a good idea but at the same time think that they place an unreasonable burden on graduates.⁶

Sustainability questions

1. How has the added income to institutions from the 2006 changes been used?
2. What cost pressures do institutions envisage arising in the future if they are to continue to deliver progress in participation and quality?
3. Students do remain concerned about the costs of higher education. What evidence is there to demonstrate the impact of these concerns on decisions made about participation in higher education and progression from higher education into further study, research or work?

1. HESA data for 2007/08

2. Education at a Glance, 2009 – table 2.5

3. Labour Force Survey, March 2009

4. Full-time Young Participation by Socio Economic Class, 2007/08

Quality notes

1. Times Higher Education – QS World University Rankings 2009

2. National Student Survey 2009 and 2008

3. Destination of Leavers from Higher Education 2003-04 Key finding report, published 2009

4. Various sources, including analysis by Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

5. Labour Force Survey, Q2 2009

6. Bynner et al., 2003, WBL Centre

Sustainability notes

1. Department for Innovation Universities and Skills, 2009 Annual Report – table 16

2. Department for Innovation Universities and Skills, 2009 Annual Report – table 11

3. Student Loans Company Statistical First Release, June 2009 (revised October)

4. OFFA access agreement monitoring – outcomes for 2007-08

5. Estimated by Department for Business, Innovation and Skills – Higher Ambitions, 2009

6. Futuretrack, 2006