At his inauguration, President Kennedy famously declared “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” Eighty years later, on the eve of a very different presidential election, the Labour government has effectively asked the same question of the UK’s Higher Education sector. In response to the sector’s pleas for additional funding, universities have been asked to give something in return; specifically, to join Labour’s mission to break down barriers to opportunity.
The minimal rise in the student fee cap announced by Bridget Phillipson was accompanied by a statement which made it clear that any new financial settlement for Britain’s universities will have to be in return for “a major package of reforms” to be revealed next year. At the front and centre of the reforms will be widening access to HE for disadvantaged students.
Over the past few years, universities have assembled very powerful and persuasive evidence of their positive contribution to the UK economy overall, both at regional and national level. But they have clearly not persuaded ministers that this justifies any significant rise in student tuition fees that already leave UK students - in the words of Kings College London's Vice Chancellor Shitij Kapur -“the most indebted
graduates in the world” (1).
The problem is compounded by the growing evidence that a significant proportion of students don’t end up in graduate jobs and therefore don’t enjoy any kind of earnings premium after graduating. For someone from a struggling family, taking out a student loan in the hope of securing a well-paid job three years in the future was always a barrier, given the immediate cost-of-living pressures they are under. Rising debt and uncertain job prospects make this even more unattractive, and recent data shows that for all the efforts of universities, widening participation has stalled in most parts of the country. At nearly 21%, the gap in progression to HE between those on Free School Meals at school and those who aren’t has now reached its highest level ever.
The Department for Education's statement mentions two expectations the Government has of universities:
First, is to “drive growth around the country and serve the communities they are rooted in”. This focus on place-based strategies for HE is relatively new, though many institutions have started putting much more emphasis on this through initiatives such as Civic University Agreements. Watch out for our forthcoming report in partnership with Newcastle University, which will illustrate how a major Russell Group university has energetically adopted this agenda in the Northeast.
Second, is to “play a stronger role in expanding access and improving outcomes for disadvantaged students”. Three years ago, a joint report from the Sutton Trust and the Institute for Fiscal Studies (2) found that only a handful of universities were doing well in achieving social mobility for their students, and that most of those were based in London. It’s highly likely that this hasn’t changed since 2021 and may even have worsened.
There are a number of policy levers the Government may turn to in order to accelerate widening participation to HE; some more radical than others. As the DfE works on its plans, we can anticipate a flurry of proposals, counter-proposals, and fierce debates over the coming months. The Lifelong Education Institute will be providing a platform for informed discussion, all the time keeping a firm eye on an often-neglected aspect of the 'Access to HE' debate: the decline in adult participation over the past twenty years. Here, the future of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement – reaffirmed in another policy document released to accompany the statement on tuition fees – will be a critical factor.
All HE providers will now need to review their strategies in relation to the key issue of access: access not just for school leavers from disadvantaged communities, but for working adults; not just for a national pool of applicants, but for their local communities. Amongst others, HEIs who are members of the Lifelong Education Institute are already deeply engaged with these agendas.
But, to coin a phrase, this government will soon be expecting this approach to be something for the many, not the few.
(1) “UK universities: from a Triangle of Sadness to a Brighter Future”, Shitij Kapur, Kings College London Policy Institute, November 2023.
(2) “Which university degrees are best for intergenerational mobility?” IfS, November 2021.
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