Our policy is a progressive redistribution of £100 million in institutional funding by 2010 away from students who already have a first HE qualification and want to study another one at an equivalent or lower level towards first time entrants which will enable more of the 20 million people of working age without a first HE qualification to participate in higher education and enjoy all the benefits it brings. Within that group without higher level qualifications, there are millions of women returners, older men, disabled students and black and minority ethnic students who will all have more opportunities as a result of the ELQ policy. The majority are likely to be mature learners from non-traditional backgrounds who want to study part-time.
We have always recognised that there may need to be exceptions to our general policy to redistribute institutional funding for ELQ students towards other students for particular subjects. We are not going to rush into making special arrangements, other than those subjects we have already identified as requiring support in the public interest—such as medicine, initial teacher training teaching, science (including veterinary science), technology, engineering and maths subjects, area-based studies, and modern foreign languages. But we are asking the Funding Council each year to look at subjects which might in future be regarded as key because of their economic or social significance, and in cases where there is evidence of a fall in demand, advise us on the best way forward. The first review will start in December 2008.
The 2 per cent. real terms annual increase in funding we are providing through the outcome of the comprehensive spending review, together with our policy of redistributing £100 million by 2010 away from students studying equivalent or lower level qualifications to ones they already hold, will enable us to provide 60,000 new places in full-time equivalent terms for new students either entering HE for the first time or progressing to higher level degrees to ones they already hold.
Our policy is a progressive redistribution of £100 million in institutional funding by 2010 away from students who already have a first HE qualification and want to study another one at an equivalent or lower level towards first time entrants which will enable more of the 20 million people of working age without a first HE qualification to participate in higher education and enjoy all the benefits it brings. However, our policy is a balanced one. There will be opportunities for those with a first HE qualification who want to re-skill in a different subject at the same or lower level, through foundation degrees, and employer co-funded provision and we will continue to fund students progressing to higher level qualifications than the ones they already hold.
Our policy is a progressive redistribution of £100 million in institutional funding by 2010 away from students who already have a first HE qualification and want to study another one at an equivalent or lower level towards first time entrants will enable more of the 20 million people of working age who do not have a first HE qualification to participate in higher education and all the benefits it brings. But it will also bring economic benefits to employers by expanding the supply of more highly qualified, more productive workers. Lord Leitch’s report, comparative data from the OECD, and the fact that the lifetime earnings premium associated with having a first degree remains among the highest in the world, all suggest that employers in this country in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors are themselves, under the current system, paying for the fact that we are not producing enough graduates for our economic well-being.
The outcome of the comprehensive spending review will enable us to support an additional 60,000 new places in full-time equivalent terms for new students either entering HE for the first time or progressing to higher level degrees to ones they already hold. Despite doubts about the viability of growth and individual courses when we introduced our policies in 1997, there has already been an increase in the number of students in the system of over 300,000 and we remain confident that any sceptics will once again be proved wrong. That assessment is also consistent with Lord Leitch's report and comparative data from the OECD. An extra 5 million people will need to obtain a first higher education qualification by 2020 if we are to be even on the edge of the premier league for world-class skills, with 40 per cent. of the workforce with higher level qualifications.
No existing ELQ students will be affected at any institution. Our policy is a progressive redistribution of £100 million in institutional funding by 2010 away from students who already have a first HE qualification and want to study another one at an equivalent or lower level towards first time entrants will enable more of the 20 million people of working age who do not have a first HE qualification to participate in higher education and enjoy all the benefits it brings. The majority are likely to be mature learners from non-traditional backgrounds who want to study part-time.
Yes. In finalising our proposals, we have decided not to rush into making special arrangements, other than those subjects we have already identified as requiring support in the public interest—such as medicine, initial teacher training teaching, science, technology, engineering and maths subjects, area-based studies, and modern foreign languages. But we are asking the Funding Council each year to look at subjects which might in future be regarded as key because of their economic or social significance, and in cases where there is evidence of a fall in demand advise us on the best way forward. The first review will be in December 2008 and could provide an opportunity to look at these subjects. There will also be opportunities for those with a first HE qualification who want to retrain in these subjects, through foundation degrees, and employer co-funded provision.
None. We are redistributing funding not saving it. The large majority of students already study these subjects as a first HE qualification and as a result of our policy of redistributing £100 million by 2010 away from supporting ELQ students, there will be even more opportunities for students to study these subjects either as a first higher education qualification or a higher education qualification to one they already hold.
Such a student would only attract institutional funding if the level of that accountancy qualification was higher than a higher national diploma. In other cases, there should still be opportunities available if the accountancy qualification was either a foundation degree or the course leading to the accountancy qualification was co-funded by an employer.
None because the request to HEFCE was itself a request to consult on the details of the decision we had already taken from first principles and advise us on the way these issues might best be tackled in a way that gets the balance right between regulation and not having an overly bureaucratic system. In all cases, HEFCE will work with institutions to audit fundable student numbers and final HEFCE funding will be determined oh the basis of audited returns and through a robust audit process.
The latest data from the labour market speak for themselves. There are 20 million people of working age who do not have a first HE qualification, including six million who have qualifications at A level or equivalent but have not progressed to higher education. Over time, new data from the labour market and comparative date from the OECD will inform future analysis of whether we are producing enough graduates for our economic well-being and enabling enough people with the talent to succeed to access higher education to study for a first qualification.
All we have asked HEFCE to do is to find savings of about £100 million a year by 2010-11. No strategic decision has been taken about whether to reallocate further ELQ funding after 2010-11 and no assessment has therefore been made about ELQ students enrolling between 2011 and 2015.
Universities and colleges offering higher education provide information about the bursaries and scholarships they offer. Following the publication of their annual monitoring report, the Office for Fair Access has written to all universities with an access agreement saying that not all eligible students have applied for bursaries and asking them to put more effort into advertising their bursaries to students.
DIUS continues to raise awareness of all elements of the higher education student finance package, including bursaries, via literature, web (including an interactive bursary map showing what finance institutions in England) and campaign material.
Information for prospective students on bursaries is also available via the Universities and Colleges Admissions System website.
Information on the number of students who had their fees partially paid for by their employer is not available centrally. The latest available information on students who had their fees wholly paid for by their employer is given in the following table.
Academic year 2006/07 Postgraduate Undergraduate Major source of tuition fees Number Percentage of known Number Percentage of known Employer2 45,725 15.0 66,155 4.9 Other 259,700 85.0 1,283,670 95.1 Total known 305,425 100.0 1,349,825 100.0 Unknown 4,830 — 6,235 — Total 310,255 — 1,356,055 — 1 Includes both full-time and part-time students. 2 Employer as major source of tuition fees includes students who were recorded as having their tuition fees paid by “student’s employer” and “UK industry/commerce”. Note: Figures are on a HESA standard registration population basis. Figures have been rounded to the nearest five, so components may not sum to totals. Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA)
The Leitch Review of Skills encourages employers to support and fund the upskilling of their work force to level 4 or above to support the nation’s international competitiveness. He set a target for at least 40 per cent. of the nation’s work force to be qualified to level 4 or above by 2020.