Professor David Eastwood

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Professor David Eastwood Chief Executive Higher
Education Funding Council for England
Challenges for higher level skills development
in the post-Leitch environment 24 May 2007
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World class economic ambitionThe Prize
The Review has concluded that the UK must commit
itself to a world class skills base in order to
secure prosperity and fairness in the new global
economy. The Prize

• Economic prosperity
• Increased social justice
• Driven by
• Increased productivity
• Improved employment.

Final report of Leitch Review Prosperity for
all in the global economy Executive Summary
pages 14-16
3
The economic contribution of HE
UK higher education is worth 45 billion to the
economy on a public investment of 15 billion

• Income in 2005-06 from
• Collaborative research - 440m
• Contract research - 555m
• Consultancy - 200m
• CPD - 335m

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Meeting employer needs
Engaging with employers on skills is a familiar
task and over the past year or so we have
achieved much together

• Growth in third stream activity
• Third stream second mission pilots
• Higher Level Skills Pathfinders
• Employer Engagement pilots
• 28 LLNs, many with an employer focus.

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The unique contribution of HE to workforce
development
A thinking, educated workforce - working
intelligently

• HE can meet the needs of employers for
• High level generic skills communication problem
  solving, creativity, insight, methods of enquiry
  etc
• High level knowledge based skills and competences
  and the ability to apply them.

Dr Marilyn Wedgewood Report to DfES Employer
Engagement-Barriers and Facilitators
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The Leitch challenge for HE
World class high skills, exceeding 40 of the
adult population qualified to Level 4 and above.

• Encompass the whole working age population
• Shared responsibility for funding growth
  employers, individuals and the Government
• Focus on economically valuable skills
• Demand-led rather than centrally planned
• Adaptive and responsive to market needs
• Building on existing structures.

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This means
Building on and improving what HE already does
well

• Preparing undergraduates for the world of work
• Continuing growth in commercially funded
  post-graduate provision and CPD
• Collaboration with SSCs and Professional Bodies
• Research and Knowledge Transfer.

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And it also means
Growing the new market of employer co-funded
provision for people in work who may otherwise
never experience HE

• Part-time and short course accredited
  modules/units
• APEL, progression and credit accumulation
• Validation of employer in-house training and
  shared delivery with employers
• Innovation in teaching and learning delivery.

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A time to be bold
We are up for radical thinking and we look
forward to seeing what HEFCE comes up with.

• This is a challenge for the HE sector and we need
  a diversity of responses from across the sector
• We also need bold and innovative responses from
  HEIs that see this as an opportunity to
  develop/add to their core missions and to make
  engaging with employers on skills a central part
  of their mainstream activity.

Bill Rammell UUK Members Meeting, Friday 18
May 2007
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It is a joint effort

• Understanding and managing the higher levels of
  risk associated with growing employer engagement
• Removing the barriers and creating enablers,
  where we can, in rules, systems and processes
• Creating the environment in which innovation in
  provision can thrive.

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To finish as we started
In the 21st century our natural resource is our
people and their potential is both untapped and
vast. Skills will unlock that potential. The
prize for our country will be enormous higher
productivity, the creation of wealth and social
justice.
Foreword to Final report of Leitch Review
Prosperity for all in the global economy