Today, I have published the Higher Education and Research White Paper: “Success as a Knowledge Economy: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice”.
We received over six hundred responses to our Green Paper and have listened carefully. The White Paper sets out our decisions, including:
- Making it easier for high-quality new providers to start up, achieve degree awarding powers, and secure university title status. This will ensure more choice for students and mean that all students with the potential can access a high quality university place.
- Requiring all universities to publish detailed information about application, offer and progression rates, broken down by gender, ethnicity and disadvantage. Students will have more information than ever before, enabling them to make informed choices.
- Publishing employment and graduate earnings data to provide prospective students with the best possible information to help them make the right choice of course and institution.
- Establishing the Office for Students (OfS) as the new regulator for all Higher Education providers, with students at its heart and a clear duty to promote competition and choice.
- Implementing the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) which, for the first time, will link teaching funding to quality and not just quantity, a principle long established for research.
- Establishing new safeguards to protect students and the sector’s reputation, with a risk-based approach to regulation so the OfS can focus attention where it is most needed.
- Building on the UK’s world-leading reputation in science and innovation, by delivering on Sir Paul Nurse’s recommendations to establish a single, strategic funding body that enables the UK to lead the world in multi-disciplinary research. Our plans ensure that each Research Council and Innovate UK retain their identities and separate budgets, with the dual support system protected for the first time.
- Launching a call for evidence on switching course or university and accelerated degrees.
These measures will deliver greater competition and choice that will promote social mobility, boost productivity in the economy, and ensure students receive value for money from their investment in higher education. They will also strengthen the UK’s world-class capabilities in research and innovation.
The White Paper can be found at:
The summary of Green Paper responses can be found at:
I have also published:
- a call for evidence on switching course and accelerated degrees, to determine whether there is student demand for switching between universities and degree courses. The call for evidence is open until 19 July 2016 and can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/accelerated-courses-and-switching-university-or-degree-call-for-evidence
- a Technical Consultation relating to the design of the second year of TEF. The TEF technical consultation is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/teaching-excellence-framework-year-2-technical-consultation
It will be open until 12 July 2016 and you can submit responses to TEF.techconsultation@bis.gsi.gov.uk or online at: https://bisgovuk.citizenspace.com/he/accelerated-courses-and-switching
There will also be a number of national TEF consultation events across the UK. Please email TEF.techconsultation@bis.gsi.gov.uk if you are interested in attending these events stating your preference for one of the following dates:
- 3 June – Sheffield
- 6 June – London
There will also be three events in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland later in June. Please email us if you are interested in attending these events and we will contact you once the dates are confirmed.
Jo Johnson MP, Minister of State for Universities and Science
