Memorandum submitted by Professor Dylan
Jones, Head of School of Psychology, Cardiff University
INTRODUCTION
This response has been divided according to
the different functions and interests that the School of Psychology
represents in the areas of Higher Education and Health. As one
of only a handful of 5* rated (RAE2001) Schools within the Higher
Education sector we face common challenges alongside our comparator
Schools and Institutions. As part of a Russell Group University
the School is acutely sensitive to disparities between the regions
of the UK. As a School of Psychology, moreover, we additionally
face a range of challenges in the health and social care arenas
both in our capacity as a facility for groundbreaking medical
and social research and as providers of professional training.
A major issue of note is the difference between the Higher Education
Funding Councils in England and Wales, both in terms of the funding
for undergraduate teaching and quality research funding. As an
example, Liverpool University and Cardiff University have roughly
the same amount of money for undergraduate teaching yet Liverpool
has only 14,000 undergraduates against 20,000 at Cardiff University.
1. UNDERGRADUATE
TEACHING
The School has an intake of approximately 200
undergraduate students each year and all of our courses are accredited
by the British Psychological Society (BPS). Admissions criteria
are 3 As at A-Level and the School has additional requirements
for GCSE achievement. The uncertainty about top-up fee policy,
and potential funding disparities in Wales relative to other UK
sectors, is a major concern and this uncertainty is likely to
be a deterrent to the highest quality applicants from outside
Wales.
2. POSTGRADUATE
RESEARCH
The School is fortunate to get around half of
our PhD students progressing from the undergraduate programmes
within the School, and is duly sensitive to any effects that changes
to undergraduate population or funding may mean for the students
at every level in the School. Otherwise, postgraduate research
numbers are very strong in the School, with PhD students funded
through a variety of studentships from the Research Councils,
as well as by multiple industrial partners, including Eli Lilly,
EADS, General Dynamics, GlaxoSmithKline and QinetiQ.
3. POSTGRADUATE
TEACHING
Our postgraduate teaching is recognised internationally
as professional training and entitles graduates to become Chartered
Members of the BPS and to practise as Psychologists in the UK.
3.1 Doctorate in Educational Psychology
The Doctorate run by Cardiff University is currently
one of sixteen in the UK and the only one in Wales. As a condition
of funding (provided to all students by the Welsh Local Government
Association and Welsh Assesmbly Government) graduates are expected
to seek employment as educational psychologists with local authorities
in Wales. Those who fail to do so may be required to pay back
all or some of the central funding provided for them. The programme
currently runs at a shortfall to the School of some £2,000
per student per year, and top-up fees from the students will,
in all probability, need to be introduced in order to provide
the balance. This may well increase the disparity between programmes
in England and Wales (where size of scheme is likely to offset
high course costs), and may therefore have an adverse affect on
applications in the future. There are also implications for accessibility
that run counter to the efforts of the School and University to
widen access to all programmes. In addition, Wales has recently
been excluded, against its wishes, from a new clearing house application
system brought into force by the Local Government Employers (LGE)
within England. Candidates for places on the Cardiff programme
now apply directly to Cardiff University. As this new system has
only run for one year, it is too soon to say whether this will
have a detrimental impact on applications but it is not conducive
to a sense of collective endeavour across the UK previously enjoyed
in this sector. There is currently some cross-border collaboration
in providing placements for students on this programme, but the
Children's Workforce Development Council (CWDC) has suggested
a regional basis for a new workforce planning system which may
increase the separation between the counties LEAs on both sides
of the border. We have concerns that this will have a negative
impact on recruitment and training and the consequent retention
of qualified staff in this area.
3.2 Doctorate in Clinical Psychology
The Doctoral programme runs as a joint venture
between Cardiff University and Cardiff and Vale NHS Trust and
is one of two programmes within Wales. There are often over 12
applications for each of the 10 places on the programme (recently
reduced from 12 places) and the applicants typically have relevant
practical experience as well as Masters degrees, if not PhDs.
The applicants to this scheme are from across the UK and although
the graduates generally choose to work within Wales, there is
no element of compulsion to do so. There is strong evidence that
a large number of undergraduates at Cardiff University wish to
continue their study on courses such as the Doctorate and given
the calibre of the undergraduate students at the School, it is
unfortunate that due to the limited funded places on the Doctorate
scheme we cannot retain more of them. There are also wide-ranging
implications for the recruitment and training of Clinical Psychologists
across the UK following the Layard Report (The Depression Report:
A New Deal for Depression and Anxiety Disorders) which recommends
implementation of the National Institute for Clinical Excellence
(NICE) guidelines. At present we know of no plans for increased
recruitment into Clinical Psychology training, or additional non-psychologist
entry into cognitive behaviour therapy training, in Wales to match
that likely to occur in England. This is of significant concern
as a strong link has been established between areas of economic
deprivation and the need for mental health services. It should
be noted that the Department for Work and Pensions still operates
on a UK-wide level and their research and recommendations do have
a significant impact on the Health professions, which are increasingly
separate for England and Wales. This may lead to a disparity in
research capability and in patient care.
4. RESEARCH
Although we welcome the competitions held by
the Research Councils and major charities that are open to all
UK-based Higher Education Institutions, Wales seems to be at a
disadvantage in terms of focused Research Centres from RCUK or
major charitable foundations; despite equivalent success in all
other areas of competitive research funding, there are no HEI-based
research centres funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC),
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), Biotechnology
and Biological Science Research Council (BBSRC), or The Wellcome
Trust. This is clearly not due to the quality of research at Universities
in Wales and seems to be a hereditary imbalance that merits scrutiny.
The combined funding of health research through the MRC and the
England-only National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) is
also a cause for concern in the significant area of medical research.
At present, funds that are derived from NIHR are not available
to HEIs in Wales, and at present there is no equivalent or matching
funding stream in the Welsh system. Not only does this mean welsh
HEIs cannot collaborate on NIHR-funded projects, but there is
also a significant funding gap in the medical research arena in
Wales.
The Reconfiguration and Collaboration Fund has
been successful in promoting research in Wales, and we would welcome
the extension of this Fund to include collaboration across the
border in key strategic areas where critical mass could be achieved
to bring material benefit (for example, the emerging Cardiff and
Bristol collaboration in the area of mental health and neuroscience).
5. RECOMMENDATIONS
FOR ACTION
5.1 QR and QT funding to be comparable in
Wales to that in England.
5.2 Certainty of future fee levels and structures
at the undergraduate level to be sought.
5.3 Implementation of the Layard Report
and the consequent provision for Cognitive Behavioural Therapy,
directed particularly to areas of economic deprivation.
5.4 Doctorate in Educational Psychology
to be funded at the true cost centrally.
5.5 Exploration to be undertaken into the
benefit of cross-border collaboration in all areas of professional
training.
5.6 Research Councils UK to be encouraged
to establish Research Centres in Wales.
5.7 The Reconfiguration and Collaboration
Fund to be extended to cross-border projects with HEFCW and HEFCE
support.
5.8 Office for Strategic Co-ordination of
Health Research (OSCHR) to continue to work with officials from
DH, DIUS and the devolved administrations to set the Government's
health research strategy, taking into account the advice, priorities
and needs set out by NIHR and its equivalents in the devolved
countries, MRC and the NHS.
| 
