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Government must act now to protect next year’s student numbers, urges ippr

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26 August 2009

The Government needs to learn from this year’s problems in funding university places, by making sure sufficient funding and student places are made available next year to meet demand, urges leading think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research.

ippr argues that this year’s restriction on funding student places means many qualified students will not be able to attend university at a time when jobs for young people are in short supply. Unless the Government makes plans for next year now, they risk repeating this year’s mistakes.

Ahead of the important government reviews of Higher Education (HE) fees this autumn, a new ippr report, First Class? Challenges and opportunities for the UK’s university sector, argues that the recession has accelerated the need for the Government to take steps to increase support for universities and students from low income households. It also states the Government must acknowledge the important role a university education can play in upgrading the skills and capabilities of younger people.

The report highlights that despite Labour’s attempts to get more students into higher education, some groups – particularly lower income students and those doing part time courses – are still facing considerable disadvantages. It found a number of issues which have hampered fair access to university:

Instead of tuition fees encouraging a market in tuition rates most universities are charging the maximum fee, and a new market has emerged as universities compete to offer a limited number of bursaries and scholarships to students.
With about a third of bursaries being allocated on merit, the Government needs to examine carefully whether these bursaries do provide sufficient support for students from poorer backgrounds.
Awareness of bursaries remains worryingly patchy among potential applicants.
Part time students are receiving the least amount of financial help.

Mike Kenny, Visiting Research Fellow at ippr, said:

“The Government must learn its lesson from the mistakes made this year in allocating university funding, which has resulted in many qualified students not finding places. In the short term, jobs will be harder to get – even for graduates - but as the economy moves out of recession, we will need a more skilled workforce. The Government should plan to put in place funding to ensure far more young people with good qualifications can afford to go to university and are able to find place in the years ahead.

“Research commissioned by ippr shows that students from poorer backgrounds are still being put off as a result of the complex system of fees, grants, bursaries and scholarships. The current system of financial assistance for poorer students is not fit for purpose.”

Among the ideas that ippr thinks that Government should consider are:

Introducing some means-testing of tuition loans so that money available is better targeted to students who are most in need.
More rigorously codifying how universities use bursary schemes so that they are used to close the gap between tuition fees charged and the maintenance grant provided.
Providing greatly enhanced financial support for part time students.
Making sure that better information on the full range of financial help to students is provided by universities.

Leading HE experts who have contributed to the report suggest that there is a strong argument for increasing the cap on tuition fees. ippr argues that for this to be successful it must be coupled with extra financial support for students from lower income households and greater efforts by leading universities to improve the recruitment of students from poorer backgrounds.

Mike Kenny adds: “With money tight in a recession, it is likely that policy-makers will look closely at the case for lifting the cap on tuition fees. However if the cap is raised, it is essential that the Government makes it clear that extra financial support will be available for poorer students. It should also consider being more directive to ensure that Universities allocate bursaries to students who are most in need of financial support.”

Notes to Editors

First Class? Challenges and opportunities for the UK’s university sector, edited by Kay Withers is available to download.

Contributors include:

Robert Anderson, Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh
Ronald Barnett, Professor of Higher Education at the Institute of Education, University of London
Claire Callender (BSc, PhD), Professor of Higher Education Policy at Birkbeck, University of London and co-director of the Birkbeck Institute of Lifelong Learning
Ewart Keep, Deputy Director of SKOPE (the ESRC Centre on Skills, Knowledge and Organisational Performance)
Alix Green, Head of Policy at the University of Hertfordshire
Donald E. Heller, Director of the Centre for the Study of Higher Education, and Professor and Senior Scientist in the College of Education at Pennsylvania State University
Meghan Benton, Research assistant at the Constitution Unit