HEFCE strategy statement: 'Opportunity, choice and excellence in higher education'

Introduction

This statement sets out HEFCE's high-level approach to tackling the challenges and opportunities of higher education reform.

We will continue to support core strengths in higher education: building on a reputation for excellence and diversity in learning and teaching, world-leading research and an enviable record of knowledge exchange.

We have identified a number of key principles – opportunity, choice, and excellence – which will drive change in higher education and guide our future work.

And we will regulate to safeguard the collective interests of students while respecting the autonomy of higher education institutions.

Future investment of HEFCE funding will be targeted on public benefit, and information collected in a streamlined way will be used to promote student choice and provide a reliable, robust evidence base for our decisions.

We will ensure that funding follows the decisions of learners and that successful institutions are able to thrive.

As the 'lead regulator' HEFCE will play a key role in supporting universities and colleges and securing public benefit across all of these activities.

We will also continue to work in close partnership with Government, universities and colleges, and the key national agencies to promote high-quality teaching and research.

Key principles

Opportunity

People with the potential to benefit from successful participation in higher education should have the opportunity to do so.

The proportion of young people recruited from the most disadvantaged parts of the country has increased by about 30 per cent over the past five years. We must build on this success, and continue to pursue fairness for all, ensuring that social background does not inhibit access to the full range of higher education institutions and that the National Scholarship Programme supports students who require additional support. Widening participation in this way is vital in creating a fairer society, securing improvements in social mobility and supporting economic growth.

Widening participation across society and extending opportunities to non-traditional learners will also bring considerable public benefit. A diverse student population is essential to vibrant intellectual enquiry and a resilient knowledge economy. It encourages a higher education offer that is socially and culturally diverse, and more representative of local communities. The availability of local provision, including through further education colleges, will continue to be very important. It is also essential that the principle of opportunity extends to postgraduate taught programmes and research students, and that study in England remains open to overseas students at all levels.

HEFCE will monitor the effects of the new financial system to ensure that new initiatives on access and student support deliver these objectives, providing a renewed focus on the whole life-cycle of higher education from pre-entry, through admission, study support, successful completion at undergraduate level and progress on to further study or employment.

Choice

Greater plurality that injects innovation, expertise and high quality in the future provision of higher education will be a welcome feature of the reform programme.

Universities and colleges must ensure that students have the information they need to make informed choices about what, where and how they want to study. We will aim to support a higher education sector with a diverse and flexible range of provision, embracing all academic disciplines and building further on the wide range of qualifications currently available through full- or part-time study and accelerated learning.

It will be important to ensure that the location and type of courses available reflect student demand and that new approaches are developed without compromising quality or standards.

Greater plurality will include more private sector organisations. Where students choose to study will not affect their entitlement to access student support funding, providing that the institutions offer recognised higher education programmes.

This will be subject to the requirements of the new regulatory framework covering all institutions and will be based on clear criteria for access, quality, information and financial sustainability.

Excellence

The international success of higher education in England depends on its reputation for high-quality teaching and research. This quality – and international perceptions of it – must continue to thrive under the new arrangements.

This means a renewed commitment to high-quality higher education that is more responsive to student choice, which provides the best possible student experience and which helps improve social mobility.

It also means maintaining our commitment to internationally excellent and world-leading research, promoted through the dual support system and effective collaboration with the Research Councils, charities and industry funders of research.

The implementation of Higher Education Innovation Funding (HEIF) on the basis of performance also remains a priority.

Key objectives

HEFCE's objectives for learning and teaching

• To continue to develop a more risk-based system that assures the quality of higher education in institutions which are authorised to recruit publicly funded students, including a wider range of further education colleges and private providers.
• To extend and enhance the information about higher education that is available for students, prospective students and others with an interest (including careers advisers, students’ families and employers).
• Subject to consultation in early 2012, to target teaching funding towards high-cost subjects and activities, such as widening participation, which have a clear public benefit and which may not be fully funded by tuition fees.
• To work with partners to develop the best way of understanding and responding to subjects which prove vulnerable as a result of the reforms and other changes, monitoring the demand and supply for key subjects, understanding the higher-level skills valued by employers and taking steps to address these issues.
• To support the continuous improvement of teaching, learning and assessment, diverse forms and modes of provision, the effective utilisation of learning technologies and the increased accessibility and use of open educational resources.
• To develop an approach, through consultation with the sector, to managing student numbers which meets the Government’s twin aims of increasing competition and driving up quality, while ensuring that the costs associated with student support are affordable.

HEFCE's objectives for research

• To maintain the strength and dynamism of the research base through the selective allocation of institutional grant funding based on quality-assessed outcomes, and by working closely with other funders, including the Research Councils.
• To implement the Research Excellence Framework in 2014 as a basis for future funding allocations and to help provide robust public information about the achievements of the higher education sector.
• To support institutions in training and developing the next generation of excellent researchers.
• To encourage and enable institutions to undertake excellent research funded from a variety of sources including international research agencies, business and the research charities.

HEFCE's objectives for knowledge exchange

• To ensure that higher education plays a full part in supporting economic recovery and growth, demonstrating this and the many wider contributions that serve the public interest.
• To allocate innovation funding in the period 2011-2015 to meet the Government's ambitions for reform and HEFCE’s long-term objective of embedding knowledge exchange activity as a central mission of universities, drawing on excellence in learning and teaching and research.
• To ensure that funding allocated through HEIF delivers value for money, developing a robust evidence base to demonstrate achievements in knowledge exchange which will inform the future direction of policy and practice.

Managing change

HEFCE's objectives for transition

• To ensure that the transition to the new funding arrangements minimise disruption for students and institutions, while supporting innovation and dynamism.
• To develop a targeted approach to public funding for teaching that maximises public benefit.
• To maintain a clear focus on fair access and widening participation.
• To work with others to establish the new arrangements for quality assurance in learning and teaching and the Key Information Set that will inform student choice.
• To continue to sustain excellence in the national research base through the REF and implementing new approaches to knowledge exchange.
• To continue to take a risk-based approach to assessing and maintaining the sustainability of institutions and the sector as a whole.
• To promote international partnerships in education, research and knowledge exchange.