HEFCE press release

28 August 1998

HEFCE plans to promote high quality and widen participation in higher education

The Higher Education Funding Council for England is proposing a two-pronged approach to promote high quality teaching and learning and widen participation in higher education from 1999-2000 [see note 1].

The HEFCE today (Tuesday 18 August 1998) announced that it is aiming to provide a total of £60 million to support these initiatives by the year 2001-2002, although the final figure will depend on the Government's more detailed expenditure plans to be announced in the autumn.

Mr Brian Fender, Chief Executive of the HEFCE, said: 'These proposals have been drawn up in partnership with universities and colleges and will now be the subject of widespread consultation. I am confident that they will benefit a wide range of students by raising the profile of teaching and learning in higher education, enhancing quality, and encouraging participation from under-represented groups.'

'We need to ensure that high-quality teaching is given appropriate status, as is the case with excellent research. We also want to ensure that increasing numbers of students, particularly those from non-traditional backgrounds, have access to high-quality provision.'

Learning and teaching

The Council allocates three-quarters of the grant provided by the Government to support teaching and learning. The proposals address six key strategic issues:

raising the profile and status of learning and teaching
enhancing public confidence in the quality of learning and teaching
enhancing the quality of learning and teaching
responding to global competition
promoting the efficient and effective use of resources
encouraging research to support learning and teaching
.

Teaching quality enhancement fund

Central to the Council's plans is the establishment of a single teaching quality enhancement fund. This will aim to enhance learning and teaching practice, reward high quality, and encourage improvement through funding directed at three different levels - the institution, the subject/discipline, and the individual academic.

The Council hopes to allocate £30 million to support the fund.

Institutional level

The primary reward for institutions will be the allocation of additional student numbers for those higher education institutions (HEIs) which can demonstrate high quality provision. The Government has announced 35,000 additional students for 1999-2000. The Council will invite bids from HEIs which demonstrate high quality provision and success in widening participation. Funding associated with these extra numbers is additional to the £30 million which the Council hopes to provide for the teaching quality enhancement fund.

Subject/discipline level

The Council already operates the Fund for the Development of Teaching and Learning (FDTL) and the Teaching and Learning Technology Programme (TLTP) to promote best practice at the subject level. It proposes to combine these within the single new fund, and invite a further round of subject-based bids [see note 2].

The proposals aim to develop the dissemination of good practice which already exists among academics at subject level, and is demonstrated through the Computers in Teaching Initiative (CTI). Following a review, the Council is now proposing to develop, jointly with the other higher education funding bodies, a co-ordinated UK-wide network of new subject centres to replace and extend the work of the CTI centres. These subject centres would share and embed good practice, manage a network of departmental users, and review and promote new materials.

Individual academic level

The Council is proposing to invite bids from HEIs for awards to support individual academics in enhancing learning and teaching, and to recognise individual excellence. This measure would send a powerful message about the importance of teaching and learning and would complement the efforts of institutions to reward teaching staff.

As with grants for research, such awards would provide time for staff to pursue a range of activities: for example, to develop teaching materials, textbooks and technology applications; to improve delivery methods; and to develop curriculum and assessment practice.

Widening participation

Higher education is a far more inclusive activity than it was. Most ethnic minorities, for example, are generally well represented compared with the population as a whole (with the exception of Moslem women and young black Caribbean men). But some groups continue to be under-represented - particularly people with disabilities and those from poor backgrounds. HEFCE research shows that young people from the wealthiest neighbourhoods are 12 times more likely to enter higher education than those from the poorest areas [see note 3].

The Council aims to encourage HEIs to widen participation for all students who can benefit from higher education - and to ensure that those students succeed. It hopes to set aside £30 million, through mainstream and special funding.

Funding would support the following objectives:

to reward HEIs that have widened participation, and encourage them to do so
to target specific groups - disabled students, those from poor backgrounds, and those who missed out on HE opportunities on leaving school
to fund the additional costs of recruiting and providing academic and pastoral support for such non-traditional students
to build partnerships between HEIs, schools and especially further education colleges in order to improve the success rates of previously disadvantaged students, and so increase the numbers that progress to higher education
to support activities that help students complete their courses
to share and embed good practice.

Most of the money would be distributed via the mainstream funding method: payments would recognise the additional costs for each HEI of providing for their disabled students and students from poor backgrounds. Special funding, allocated by competitive bidding, would be earmarked for building partnerships with other sectors, and sharing good practice. Institutions will also be invited to bid for additional funded student numbers to widen access.

ENDS

For further information contact Helen Buttery on 0117 931 7125 or Cliff Allan on 0117 931 7013.

Notes to Editors

1. The proposals are contained in two documents, 'Learning and teaching: strategy and funding proposals' and 'Widening participation in higher education: funding proposals'. Responses are required by 23 October and 2 November, respectively.

2. Under the FDTL programme, funds are allocated in response to bids, based on evidence (from teaching quality assessment) of high quality in the subject.

3. 'The Influence of Neighbourhood Type on Participation in Higher Education - Interim Report', HEFCE, April 1997.

HEFCE 8/98

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