1. NUS give evidence at Lord Browne’s review of HE funding
NUS gave evidence at Lord Browne’s independent review of higher education finance on Thursday 28 January. The review is looking into all aspects of higher education funding, including the level of student/ graduate contribution, the manner in which such payments should occur, the balance between student, state and private contributions, and the student support system. The review will release its findings after the general election.
NUS argued at the review that universities must account for where the almost three-fold increase in funding has gone, given that student satisfaction has increased only marginally. NUS also warned against a market in fees, which they said could re-open a two tier university system and, according to Government research, could limit access to non-traditional students.
Universities UK, the Institute for Fiscal Studies and the former Education Secretary Charles Clarke also presented evidence that day.
2. HEFCE research shows more students from poor backgrounds undertaking HE
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) on the 28 January announced the publication of research which found that there has been a substantial and sustained increase in the higher education participation rate of young people living in the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods since the mid-2000s.
The research most notably found an increase in participation of over 30 per cent within the most disadvantaged areas. Participation rates were also found to have increased in advantaged neighbourhoods over this period, but to have done so less rapidly.
John Selby, Director for Education and Participation at HEFCE, said: ‘These results are very significant. They show a substantial increase in the participation rate of those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds with, recently, a narrowing of the gap between them and those from the most advantaged backgrounds. It is also encouraging that the gap in participation between men and women, which once appeared to be growing inexorably, seems to have stopped widening in recent years. Nevertheless, the participation differences between the most advantaged and least advantaged, and between women and men, remain very large. We must continue to work on these issues but can be encouraged by the recent progress.’
3. NUS launch new ‘Vote for Students’ campaign
NUS this week launched their ‘Vote for Students’ campaign, which aims to mobilise the student vote for the coming general election.
The campaign includes a new student vote website- www.voteforstudents.co.uk - which will offer students information about those standing for election in their local area, and highlight whether those standing for election have signed up to the NUS ‘Funding our Future Pledge’.
The ‘Funding our Future Pledge’ states: “I pledge to vote against any increase in fees in the next parliament and to pressure the government to introduce a fairer alternative”
NUS has identified a hot list of 20 key student seats where the student vote ranges between 10 and 30 per cent of the electorate, and will be focusing on these seats during the campaign.
Wes Streeting, NUS President said:
“In many seats up and down the country, the student vote is absolutely critical. Through this campaign, we hope to remind students of the power they hold, and remind candidates of the danger of not taking our votes seriously.
“Our ‘hot list’ of key student seats should make the point particularly clearly: ignore us at your peril. Elections have been won and lost by the student vote before; it will happen again.”
4. EMD in support of the NUS graduate tax scheme
An Early Day Motion was tabled on Monday 25 January by Ashok Kumar in support of the NUS proposals for an alternative ‘graduate tax’ model for HE funding.
EDM 692 further argues that “raising the 3,000 cap on fees will create further marketisation of higher education, pricing the poorest out of the system; and believes that a graduate tax would also provide a more reliable and consistent form of finance for universities and have the benefit of fostering a longer term bond between alumni and the university.”
5. EDM on student loans
EDM 732 was tabled on 27 January by Lindsay Hoyle, and expresses concern with the recent announcement by the Student Loans Company of a cut of 150 jobs.
The EDM “asks whether staff numbers should be cut in light of recent acknowledged systemic failures on the part of the company to process thousands of students' loan applications this year” and argues that the company should be “concentrating on addressing urgently its current processing issues before looking to streamline back office operations”. The EDM finally calls for compensation to be paid to those students who have incurred costs because of the company's failure to deliver the student loans on time.