House of Commons - Education and Skills

Select Committee on Education and Skills Minutes of Evidence

17. Memorandum submitted by the Coalition of Modern Universities (CMU)

BACKGROUND

1. The Coalition of Modern Universities was formed to represent the interests of the majority of those universities formed in the 1992 Education Act. The CMU comprises 36 institutions, all of which are members of Universities UK. A list of our membership, and contact details, is included at the end of this document.

INTRODUCTION

2. The CMU has cautiously welcomed the Government's White Paper on higher education, and the Secretary of State's commitment to a partnership between students, Government, business and universities to renew and expand our higher education system.

3. We are encouraged by Charles Clarke's acknowledgement of higher education as a success story and the pressing need for increased investment in the sector. The White Paper includes a number of measures that will help to ensure the long term funding stability of the higher education sector. We are concerned, however, over the impact of number of specific measures proposed, and the direction in which the sector will be driven by the Government and the HEFCE. It remains too early to predict the full implications of the White Paper as in many cases it lacks detail, and a great deal of consultation has still to be undertaken.

RESEARCH EXCELLENCE

4. We welcome the acknowledgement within the White Paper of the importance of research and its contribution to the economy. In particular, we are pleased with the Government's commitment to ensure that the "allocation of funding encourages and rewards promising departments with comparatively low research ratings." Such a commitment to encourage new research areas, often undertaken by modern universities, rightly recognises a unit's ability to develop and improve.

5. The CMU, however, remains concerned about the Government's intention to alter the organisation of research. Plans to support new research areas as yet remain unclear. We hope to work closely with the HEFCE in determining a funding system that can be related to potential progress, and linked to good planning for future improvement.

6. We recognise the Government's need to develop world class research universities. However, plans to concentrate research in large units, and to steer other institutions to a purely teaching mission, have the potential to ossify the sector. The strength of teaching in the modern university sector is linked to research work. Any separation of the two functions, and the re-creation of a binary system, albeit a different binary system, will jeopardise the progress made by modern universities in providing students with a worthwhile education. It would have a negative effect on the morale of academic staff and make the recruitment of high quality new staff even harder.

HIGHER EDUCATION AND BUSINESS

7. The CMU agrees with the Government that universities should have strong regional bases, and have a role to fulfill as community leaders. Modern universities have developed substantial links with local businesses and contribute to both local and regional economy. The Government's plans to develop this, through Knowledge Exchanges, will only be effective if all universities are resourced to engage in relevant and dynamic research, enabling them to play their full part in the development of local businesses and communities.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

8. The CMU has welcomed the White Paper's emphasis on high quality teaching, an area in which modern universities have a particularly strong record for innovation. Excellent teaching should be a top priority for the higher education sector but as yet the levels of investment in this area remain unclear. We hope that the commitment to Centres of Excellence will not be at the expense of the desperate and urgent need to invest in the whole of the teaching infrastructure of the modern universities.

9. We await the results of the Government's study into examining and modernising the criteria for degree-awarding powers to reflect the increasing diversity of higher education. The CMU will look to play a role in consultation with the Quality Assurance Agency review on changes to the awarding of degrees and University title.

EXPANDING HIGHER EDUCATION

10. We are pleased to see the Government's commitment to the participation target of 50% and we shall work with the Government to achieve this target.

11. Foundation Degrees should provide one route for expansion but it is essential that provision is also made for expansion of honours degrees to permit Foundation Degree holders to transfer to higher level study if they wish to do so.

12. The introduction of more flexible means of studying is particularly welcome by the CMU in the Government's measures to expand higher education. Measures to encourage part time and mature students will attract those students from non-traditional educational backgrounds, a substantial number of which attend modern universities. Both of the examples used in the White Paper, the Universities of Coventry and Derby, which reflect the success of such flexible study in the White Paper, are members of the CMU. This will need to be accompanied by new approaches to funding and measurement of achievement. Credit accumulation and transfer schemes would give greater opportunity for non-traditional students to develop successful patterns of study that match their individual circumstances.

FAIR ACCESS

13. Widening access is at the top of the Government's agenda, exactly where it should be. Modern universities currently have a higher intake of students from the lower socio-economic groups, and we are constantly working to improve these levels. We therefore welcome the increased funding premium for teaching students from poor family backgrounds, and the replacement of the postcode premium with more sensitive and sophisticated indicators of access. We are concerned about the powers that will be vested in the access regulator as we believe that the Funding Council already has levers to exercise control in this area.

14. We share the Government's concern with drop out rates and CMU member universities are constantly working to better their provision of appropriate teaching and support to students. We welcome the White Paper's acceptance that this issue is a complex one, with those students from non-traditional education backgrounds often unable to complete their courses. We look forward to working with the access regulator to developing a system of benchmarks to take into account the composition of the student body, and in improving such rates. However without this, simply to punish institutions with high dropout rates is to misunderstand and underestimate the issue. The present system of assessment of performance is based on the assumption that students who do not complete a full qualification have failed. The constructive use of a credit accumulation and transfer system for higher education would recognise positive achievement.

FREEDOMS AND FUNDING

15. We welcome the Government's acknowledgement that universities need more freedom—to be dynamic, self-determining institutions, free of as much bureaucracy as possible. We are pleased that the Government is supporting the HEFCE's and Universities UK's proposal for a new Leadership Foundation to support the sector to improve leadership and management, although we await further details.

16. The increase in funding for higher education, averaging more than 6% for the next three years, brings much needed short term support to the sector. The CMU agrees with the Government that the funding for higher education needs to be made sustainable in the long term. However, we do not welcome the lack of clarity in this area and seek reassurance that funding will go to all institutions and be transparent and equitable.

17. We are relieved the Government has decided to abolish up-front top up fees, but do believe that differential fees and the prospect of debt will be a deterrent to many prospective students. We believe differential fees would drive many more students to study at their local university—it is therefore vital that that university be the best it can be. The CMU hopes that the tuition fee will be used to the direct benefit for students, and be reflected in the support of teaching and the overall student experience. It is up to the Government to insist that all students have an equality of opportunity and that their experience is the best that can be provided, wherever they study. The re-introduction of the maintenance grant is long overdue, but we believe the threshold should be raised to be fully effective.

CONCLUSION

18. The Coalition of Modern Universities is committed to working in partnership with the Government to achieve its goals of widening access, and developing the use of funding and the contribution of universities to the economy and society. We broadly welcome the measures set out in the White Paper, but believe that now is a crucial time for consultation. All universities should work in collaboration with the Government, students and business to ensure a stable and successful future for the higher education sector.

February 2003

Annex

CMU Membership as at January 2003

Thames Valley University

University of Wolverhampton

University of Wales Institute, Cardiff

University of Lincoln

Middlesex University

University of Northumbria, Newcastle

University of Sunderland

London Metropolitan University

University of Teesside