Session 2010-11
The Future of Higher EducationWritten evidence from the Crafts Council Background: 1. The Crafts Council is England ’s national development agency for contemporary craft. It aims to build a strong economy and infrastructure for contemporary craft, to increase and diversify the audience for contemporary craft and to champion high quality contemporary craft practice nationally and internationally. 2. The Crafts Council supports craft makers’ professional development and builds the market for contemporary craft by running events and promoting export. It holds a significant collection of contemporary craft, which it makes available through touring exhibitions and loans. It works to raise the profile of contemporary craft through critical debate and by building an evidence base that demonstrates the nature and value of craft , and to develop the audience for contemporary craft through providing opportunities for interaction and informal engagement with craft. 3. The contemporary craft sector is part of a vibrant cultural and creative sector in the UK , which contributed 6.2% of the UK ’s GVA in 2007 (source: DCMS ). Introduction: 4. The Crafts Council welcomes the opportunity to contribute evidence to the Business, Innovation and Skills Commons Select Committee Inquiry into the Future of Higher Education. Our response addresses both points of the review: ‘The conclusions of the Browne Report and the content of the Government’s proposed White Paper on higher education (including the Government’s proposals for widening participation and access); and The role and future of state funding in higher education. 5. Our view, supported by resea rch conducted in the period 2009 – 2010, is that: - There is wide-spread and very valid concern for the future of craft in Higher Education (HE) following the recommendations of the Browne Report and subsequent decisions on Government funding for arts and humanities tuition in HE. - These changes send a message to students and universities about the relative value of arts and humanities subjects. - The forthcoming Higher Education White Paper should acknowledge the important benefits derived from arts and humanities subjects and make recommendations accordingly. - The craft sector is part of a vibrant cultural and creative sector in the UK and p ublic funding at HE stage plays a crucial role in unlocking the sector’s economic and social impacts. 6 . In our analysis, we draw on a Crafts Council briefing published in 2009, Craft Course Closures , and a more recent briefing Craft and Higher Education: An Update published in December 2010. We also reference Crafts Council research undertaken in 2010 to investigate portfolio working in the contemporary craft sector [1] and craft graduate career paths [2] . The conclusions of the Browne Report and the content of the Government’s proposed White Paper on higher education 7. The Crafts Council strongly agrees with the need for ‘quality of teaching’, ‘widening participation’, and ‘sustainable funding’, identified in the Browne Report. However, we are concerned about the definition of ‘priority’ subjects in the report as medicine, technology, science and engineering, and some strategically important languages, and by the potential consequences of withdrawing Government funding from non-priority subjects through the transfer of funding for teaching of arts and humanities courses from government to students, making these courses dependent on the market. 8. These changes send a powerful message to students and universities about the relative value of arts and humanities subjects and fail to recognise the significant contribution, including economic, made by these sectors. Notably, the creative industries contribute almost as much as financial services to the UK economy according to some sources [3] . Both science and the creative subjects, including crafts, are important components of the economy and both will be vital to the recovery (see end note). 9. In 2010 the Crafts Council undertook research comparing undergraduate craft courses listed on the UCAS database for 2009-10 and 2010-11. Encouragingly, there was evidence of an increase in the number of craft courses overall, particularly through the growth of interdisciplinary courses offering craft specialisms alongside other subjects. However, the analysis also showed that over 30 craft courses closed between 2009/10 and 2010/11. Discipline-specific craft courses – with their need for space and equipment and relatively small student numbers – have become even more vulnerable following the Browne Report and recent HE funding decisions, endangering the availability of courses enabling in-depth study and also threatening the growth of the popular interdisciplinary subjects described above with their reliance on specialist teaching and equipment. 10. Recent research has also identified important spill-over effects of cultural and creative industries into other sectors. The Crafts Council’s own research report Making Value [4] , provides a wealth of evidence illustrating this argument in the specific case of craft, showing craft makers working in a wide range of industries including manufacturing, architecture and fashion. Removing funding from arts and humanities threatens mutually beneficial relationships which inform important research and developments not only in creative subjects but also in the subjects that the Government has defined as ‘priorities’. 11. And while the Crafts Council has long argued for more diversity of routes into the professional craft sector, and we can appreciate the economic attractiveness of concentrating resources in fewer institutions (reserving judgement on whether this is the best service to the student or professional craft sector), we are very concerned about the potential consequences of these changes. We will not retrieve knowledge lost in the coming years – it will vanish forever. 12. We hope that the important benefits derived from ‘priority’ subject and from arts and humanities subjects will be acknowledged in the forthcoming Higher Education White Paper and that recommendations will be made accordingly. The role and future of state funding in higher education 13. The Browne Report defines the role of public investment in supporting ‘priority subjects’ that are costly to teach but offer social returns. Medicine, engineering and science are singled out as specific examples of the type of course that government funds should support. We argue that the Government also has a vital role to play in providing support at HE level for other subjects which have economic and social impacts, including craft (see end note). 14. P ublic sector funding for teaching and research of crafts in HEIs plays a particularly significant role in the sector , with the majority of craft makers being graduates of honours degree courses, and with HEIs undertaking cutting-edge research which leads the sector in terms of innovation . This teaching and research enables the development of materials knowledge and craft practice to continue and serves to unlock the economic and social potential of the sector. 15. Although cuts for research have not been as deep as predicted, with the Research Councils remaining in place, it seems likely that, in practice, research will be concentrated in fewer institutions and, again, government funds will focus on programmes that appear to promise economic impact from the outset. Here too, the future seems undoubtedly bleaker for craft than before, and we argue that the Government has a role to play in supporting research for subjects beyond those which have currently been identified as ‘priorities’. End Note 16. The craft sector has notable economic and social impacts. The sector produces a turnover in excess of £3bn each year and is part of a vibrant cultural and creative sector in the UK, which contributed 6.2% of the UK’s GVA in 2007 (source: DCMS). Largely made up of self-employed makers and owners of SMEs, the sector employs nearly 35,000 people and in 2009/10 was growing more rapidly by employment than any other creative sector. 17. Craft graduates have important technical and entrepreneurial skills. Recent research by the Crafts Council Crafting Futures [5] , commissioned as part of the wider Creative Graduates, Creative Futures survey, found that craft graduates typically work independently in an ever-changing landscape of micro-businesses and freelance work which characterise the craft sector. Findings also showed that in the early years of their careers more than one in three craft makers have worked freelance and one in five run a business, with double this proportion aiming to run a business as their careers progress. Research also showed that craft graduates are ‘socially mobile’, and networking, collaboration and ‘portfolio work’, combining for example teaching and making, are important aspects of their careers. In addition, craft graduates are adaptable in an economic downturn, proactively exploring new markets, maintaining demand for services and strategically cutting costs. 18. Craft projects can also assist social inclusion. For example, the ceramics industry is a significant cultural asset to areas such as the Potteries. Contemporary craft projects, such as the British Ceramics Biennale held in Staffordshire, have had
10 March 2011 [1] Schwarz M and Yair K (2010): Making Value: craft & the economic and social contribution of makers. London , Crafts Council. http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/professional-development/ research -and-information/our- research / [2] Hunt W, Ball L and Pollard E (2010): Crafting Futures: a study of the early careers of crafts graduates from UK higher education institutions. London , Crafts Council.http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/files/file/cd68904f6f59df22/crafting-futures-executive-summary.pdf [3] Bassett D (2010): A creative recovery: How the UKs creative industries can regain their competitive edge. REFORM http://www.reform.co.uk/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=WJFgJ%2BNklDU%3D&tabid=118 [3] [4] Schwarz M and Yair K (2010): Making Value: craft & the economic and social contribution of makers. London , Crafts Council. http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/professional-development/ research -and-information/our- research / [5] Hunt W, Ball L and Pollard E (2010): Crafting Futures: a study of the early careers of crafts graduates from UK higher education institutions. London , Crafts Council.http://www.craftscouncil.org.uk/files/file/cd68904f6f59df22/crafting-futures-executive-summary.pdf |
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| ©Parliamentary copyright | Prepared 25th March 2011 |