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Secretary of State sets out priorities for higher education in the year ahead

21 January 2008

Increasing the number of students in higher education, forging new relationships between employers and universities and widening participation are the key priorities laid down today by John Denham, Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, in his annual grant letter to the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).

The letter details the Government's allocations to HEFCE for 2008/09 following last year's Comprehensive Spending Review which announced public spending on higher education institutions will exceed £7bn this year. When added to the funding provided for student support, public expenditure on higher education will rise by an average of 2.5 per cent each year over the next three years.

The key priorities for higher education include:

  • increasing student numbers by 60,000 for those entering higher education for the first time (or those progressing to a higher level qualification) by 2010/11;
  • fostering closer ties between universities and industry, with an aim of 15,000 full-time equivalent additional students being co-funded by employers and HEFCE by 2010/11;
  • continuing to expand Foundation Degrees, with a target of 100,000 enrolments by 2010;
  • making progress on flexible learning pathways, including the growth of two-year compressed honours degrees, with a target of at least 1,000 students being on a flexible programme during 2008/9;
  • taking forward the work on widening participation in higher education and ensuring that a good range of provision is locally available across the country;
  • developing stronger structural links between universities, schools and colleges; and
  • building on the programme of investment in research and innovation.

Mr Denham said:

The Government is investing more in higher education than ever before with record numbers of students going to university.

By 2011, funding for higher education will have increased by over 30 per cent in real terms since 1997, but with increased financial support comes a higher expectation on institutions to widen participation and reach out to new talent by working more closely with schools and employers.

I believe the opportunities of higher education should be open to all and I am confident that by increasing the number of students in higher education we will deliver a highly skilled workforce and world class research to ensure an economically competitive UK fit for the 21st century.

The grant letter also calls for universities to do more to reduce their carbon emissions to help the Government achieve a 60 per cent reduction in emissions by 2050. The Government wants universities' performance in reducing carbon emissions to be a factor in their future capital allocations.

The Secretary of State will make the grant to HEFCE in April 2008, in line with previous years.

Notes to Editors

  1. HEFCE distributes public money for teaching and research to universities and colleges.
  2. The number of full-time students accepted on to undergraduate courses starting in 2007 rose by 5.8 per cent according to end of year data released by UCAS. 22,540 more students were accepted in 2007, taking the total from 390,890 in 2006 to 413,430.
  3. The total HEFCE grant in 2008/09 is £7.073bn. In 2009/10 and 2010/11, the total HEFCE grant is projected to be £7.313bn and £7.668bn respectively. This represents a 2.5 per cent increase year on year.
  4. Higher education funding, including support for students, has increased over 23 per cent in real terms from 1997/98 to 2007/08 and, taking account of the 2007 Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), will have increased by over 30 per cent in real terms between 1997/98 and 2010/11.
  5. Lord Leitch's report, 'Prosperity for all in the Global Economy: World Class Skills', called for a step change in the proportion of higher level skills going from 30 per cent now to over 40 per cent by 2020. 70 per cent of the 2020 workforce has already left school. This means that to be world class in future, Britain is going to need to produce about four million extra people with higher level qualifications between now and 2020, and a system that reaches out beyond school leavers doing traditional degrees to more flexible courses designed and co-funded by employers.
  6. The increases in the recurrent grant for teaching over the CSR period are enough to provide significant growth in the number of people entering higher education for the first time - or progressing to higher qualifications. For these types of students, there will be at least 10,000 additional places in 2008/9 and 40,000 by the end of the CSR period. Funding for a further 20,000 places is expected to be created, by 2010/11, through the redeployment of £100m of teaching grant that would have gone to support the costs of teaching students who already hold a higher education qualification at or above their proposed level of study.
  7. HEFCE's approach to building employer engagement and co-funding approaches will reflect research findings which suggest there is latent demand for higher level skills within the workforce but releasing it will require changes to the design, delivery and funding of learning to be more responsive to market needs. The research, Higher Education in the Workforce: Barriers and Facilitators to Employer Engagement by Marilyn Wedgwood and Employer Engagement in Course Deve lopment: Student and Employer Perceptions of its Impact - A Review of Research by the Evidence for Policy and Practice Information and Co-ordinating Centre (EPPI Centre) are available on the DIUS internet at http://www.dius.gov.uk/research
  8. The Government is actively encouraging universities to form long-term, deep relationships with schools. A prospectus was launched last year which sets out how such joint working can benefit both universities and schools with universities spearheading efforts to raise the aspirations of pupils, teachers and parents, driving up standards and supporting university applications. The prospectus is available at http://www.dius.gov.uk/publications
  9. A Foundation Degree is a higher education qualification which integrates academic study with work-based learning. Courses are developed in partnership with employers, ensuring that graduates acquire the necessary skills and knowledge required in the workplace.
  10. This year's HEFCE grant letter will be available from Monday 21 January 2008 at http://www.hefce.ac.uk