Challenges and opportunities in higher education


1
Challenges and opportunities in higher education

• Sir Howard Newby
• Chief Executive
• HEFCE annual meeting
• Friday 23 November 2001
• BAFTA

2
HE achievements

• participation of young people has doubled
• UK has one of the highest student completion
  rates in the world
• UK has one of highest proportions of graduates in
  the world
• UK graduates among the most valued in the world
• UK research among best in the world

3
Student non-completion

• 18 per cent compared to 16 per cent in 1985-86
• meanwhile participation has more than doubled
  and the student profile has changed immensely
• This compares with
• The range in the UK is from 1 to 36
• Our worst is better than most countries average
• International Comparators from OECD Education
  at a Glance

4
Our research is among the best in the world
5
The Dearing compact

• lifelong learning
• regional economic regeneration
• creation of the learning society
• scholarship and pure research
• technological innovation
• social cohesion
• public accountability

6
Principles for the development of the sector

• in an increasingly global environment the quality
  of everything that each institution does needs to
  be world class
• differentiation of roles is a key to the future
• each institution needs to identify what it can do
  well and then to concentrate on doing that

7
The role of HEFCE (1)

• remove perverse incentives for institutions to do
  things they do not do well
• provide positive incentives for institutions to
  do the things they are good at
• create a number of different funding streams

8
The role of HEFCE (2)

• Working in partnership we help to match the
  aspirations and development of higher education
  to the needs of students the economy and society

9
The change agenda
Needs of students the economy and society

• Aspirations and development of HE

The changeagenda
10
The change agenda

• one size will not fit all
• institutions will increasingly cooperate
• complementary strengths
• differentiation of function
• HEFCE should help willing partners grow closer
• meeting regional needs

11
Possible different funding streams

• Research
• partly responsible for mission drift
• Teaching
• not as a mission and funding differentiator all
  institutions should do it well
• Widening participation
• not as a mission differentiator that would let
  some institutions off the hook. But funding for
  WP needs to be adequate
• 3rd stream
• possibly but it will need to be instead of not
  as well as research as a funding stream

12
Participation in full-time education by 16-21
year olds
13
The big partnership

• to achieve the Governments widening
  participation target
• meeting the target will address social equity and
  national competitiveness issues
• by strengthening networks of HEIs FECs schools
  and other partners in every region
• close collaboration between HEFCE and the
  Learning and Skills Council

14
Lessons

• we must widen the group of those benefiting from
  HE
• widening participation depends on success in
  schools
• we have to help mature students enter HE and
  succeed
• ensuring students succeed is as important as
  bringing them in

15
Challenges and opportunities in higher education

• Sir Howard Newby
• Chief Executive
• HEFCE annual meeting
• Friday 23 November 2001
• BAFTA

16
Annual meeting 23 November 2001

• Steve Egan
• Director of Finance Corporate Resources

17
Issues

• Framework leadership management
• HR strategies better accountability
• performance

18
Framework
Funding
Supporting change
Respecting autonomy

• Leadership management

Better accountability
Supporting capability development
Spreading best practice
19
Supporting capability development
Existing initiatives
UCEA guide
Seminars
HR strategies
Good practice seminars

• Sector-led
• initiatives

Consultancy
HR strategies
20
Longer-term issues
UCEA principles of job evaluation
Benchmarking
National developments
UUK/SCOP leadership management
Equality challenge
Rewarding developing staff phase 2
21
Better accountability

• Conditional allocations
• QAA
• Working with others
• Better regulation task force

22
performance

• Targets
• Costs
• Improvements

23
Improvements

• EFQM excellence model
• Enabler framework
• Pay system
• Board self-assessment
• Strategic plan

24
Steve Egan

• Director of Finance and Corporate Resources

25

• Stephen Marston
• Director for Institutions

26

• To cover three illustrations of partnership
• formation of the e-University
• developments in quality assurance in higher
  education
• the Big Partnership for widening participation

27
(No Transcript)
28
e-University corporate organisation
29
Progress during the year

• January invitation to private sector partners
• March invitation to HEIs to propose programmes
• June incorporation of Holding Company
• October
• strategic partnership with Sun Microsystems to
  develop platform
• incorporation of Operating Company
• first fast-track pilot programmes

30
Next steps

• Appointment of chair and chief executive
• Continue to build partnership
• Platform development with Sun
• Commission further round of learning programmes

31
Quality assurance

• Previous consultation assumed continuation of
  universal subject review
• Concerns about accountability burden
• Proposal in March to introduce sampling
• Prompted more fundamental re-think of purposes
  and how to achieve them
• HEFCE QAA Universities UK and SCOP developed
  proposals published in July

32
QAA results
33
July proposals

• Based on analogy with audit
• Main responsibility for quality and standards
  rests with each HEI
• Institution-wide audit of internal procedures for
  safeguarding quality and standards
• Integrated sampling to check that procedures are
  working and published report
• Follow up reviews in areas of concern

34
Information about quality and standards

• What information do stakeholders need
• Wide array of information already available
  inside institutions from internal processes
• What information should every HEI be expected to
  have
• What parts of that information should be
  published
• Institutional audit to review its reliability

35
Quality assurance next steps

• Analysis of responses to July consultation
  proposals
• Joint statement on where next
• Consultation on information needs
• Consultation on how to put the model into
  operation
• Implementation 2002-03

36
November horoscope (Scorpio)

• Since you can only imagine how strongly others
  feel say nothing that might add insult to
  injury. It will be easy to make what you think
  are harmless comments and cause untold problems.
  Its a pity if your thoughts are considered so
  insulting that the whole thing is made worse.
  Its time to tread carefully.

37
Widening participation Big Partnership

• Government target of 50 participation between
  ages of 18 and 30 by 2010
• Current trends in student demand
• Need to strengthen the supply chain into HE
• HEIs working more closely with FE colleges and
  schools to raise attainment and motivation

38
Participation in higher education by educational
attainment at 16
39
Participation in higher education by social class
40
Principles of Big Partnership

• Joint with Learning and Skills Council
• Build on what is already there including WP
  strategies and collaborative projects
• Regional focus
• Stronger infrastructure of links between HEIs
  FECs and schools
• Activities such as summer schools student/ staff
  mentoring curriculum enrichment

41
Stephen Marston

• Director for Institutions

42
Bahram Bekhradnia

• Director of Policy

43
Growth 1984-1994
44
Growth in HE numbers 1995-2000
Source HESES data
45
Number of students by mode of study and type of
institution 1983-84 to 1993-94
46
Number of students by mode of study and type of
institution 1996-97 to 2000-01
47
Institutions grouped by their percentage growth
in full-time students
48
Age Participation Index
49
Participation in FT Education by 16-21 year olds
50
Proportion of age group gaining qualifications
51
16 Progress towards post-16 national learning
targets for young people
52
English population by age
53
Number of Mature students in HE 1984-93
54
Number of mature students in HE 1996-2000
55
Drop Out and Previous Educational Experience (2)
56
Implications for HEFCE

• Should we plan the system to a greater extent
• Or should we allow the market freer reign
• In particular should we protect those
  institutions most active in widening
  participation
• In any case we - and institutions - need to
  consider how HE can work in partnership with
  schools and FE to increase numbers

57
Bahram Bekhradnia

• Director of Policy