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HEFCE press release

12 November 1998

HEFCE announces action plan for Thames Valley University

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) today announced the action which is to be taken to resolve the difficulties at Thames Valley University (TVU).

An external review team composed of Sir William Taylor, former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull, and Mr Quentin Thompson of PricewaterhouseCoopers has been appointed to oversee the preparation of an action plan for submission initially to the TVU governing body and then to the HEFCE. The team will work closely with the governing body and staff of the university. Details of the aim and coverage of the action plan are attached.

There are two main causes for the university's difficulties. First, there are weaknesses in its systems for assuring quality and standards, as detailed in the report by the Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) published today (embargoed until 10.00 on 12 November). Second, the university failed to recruit enough students to meet its targets in this academic year, which has a direct and significant effect on its financial position.

HEFCE Chief Executive, Brian Fender, said: 'Decisive action is needed to resolve the serious situation at TVU. The priority is to ensure that current and future students are guaranteed a good standard of education. To achieve that, we must ensure that TVU has all the procedures and safeguards necessary to operate as a self-critical, self-regulating, financially secure, academic community.

'I am delighted that Sir William Taylor and Quentin Thompson have agreed to lead the preparation of an action plan to address the current weaknesses. They bring outstanding expertise and a wealth of experience to the task. I am confident that they will help the university identify a path to recovery which will rapidly restore its academic and financial viability and assure it a successful future.'

ENDS

For further information contact Roger Grinyer on 0117 931 7307, Philip Walker on 0117 931 7363, or Helen Buttery on 0117 931 7125.

Notes to Editors

1.      The HEFCE allocates public funds for teaching and research in higher education institutions (HEIs). It is responsible for ensuring that all HEIs are financially viable, and can safeguard the quality and standards of their teaching programmes.

2.      Sir William Taylor CBE is currently President of the Society for Research in Higher Education, a visiting professor at the University of Southampton, Chair of the Northern Ireland Teacher Education Committee, a governor of the University of Glamorgan and of Christ Church College, Canterbury, and a member of the Council of the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Since retiring as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hull in 1991, Sir William has undertaken over a dozen institutional, departmental and functional reviews for universities, government departments and official agencies both in the UK and abroad.

3.      Mr Quentin Thompson has been the partner in PricewaterhouseCoopers (UK) responsible for all the firm's education consultancy work in Britain for nearly 15 years, with a particular focus on higher education. Much of his policy work has been on matters of governance, management and funding.

 

Aim and coverage of the action plan for Thames Valley University

1.      The overriding aim is to secure that TVU's current and future students are assured a good standard of education. That is the benchmark against which the action plan should be prepared; and the plan may propose whatever action will best achieve that aim.

2. The action plan must address both the academic and the financial difficulties faced by TVU. In particular, it must:

  1. Address each of the issues identified in paragraph 79 of the QAA report about the institution's structures and procedures for safeguarding quality and standards, taking account of the steps taken by the university since the QAA review visits.

  2. Consider the financial and other implications of the existing shortfall in recruitment, and any further reduction in student numbers which may subsequently occur; and recommend a basis for securing long-term viability for the provision for TVU's current and future students.

3.      The plan should, inter alia, consider:

  1. How TVU can best identify, and build on, areas of strength.

  2. The level and pattern of future student recruitment which will best secure appropriate standards and financial viability.

  3. Whether, and if so how far, the current difficulties are attributable to TVU's internal organisational arrangements; and any changes which are desirable.

  4. The scope for collaboration with other neighbouring HE and FE institutions to strengthen the provision for TVU's students.

4.      The plan should identify milestones, performance indicators and deadlines against which progress in implementing the action plan can be monitored, and any steps necessary to ensure effective implementation by the university. It should identify in particular action to be taken immediately with a view to ensuring:

  1. Robust quality assurance of the assessment of students in the current academic year.

  2. Effective admission arrangements for the start of the 1999-2000 academic year.

  3. A return to financial viability as soon as possible.

5.      The QAA has indicated that it will undertake a full institutional review of the university in 2001-02. In order to ensure that the Agency can maintain proper independence in conducting that review, it will not be involved in the preparation or implementation of the action plan. But the review team should make full use of the information gained by QAA in the preparation of its report.

6.      HEFCE does not fund the further education and continuing education programmes at TVU. Public funding for those programmes is provided by the Further Education Funding Council. The QAA accordingly did not directly review the procedures for assuring the quality and standards of those programmes in its report, although the report does comment that the difficulties at TVU did not appear to have impacted on those programmes as severely as on the higher education programmes. Nonetheless, the current difficulties concern the overall operation, effectiveness and viability of the institution, and the action plan should have regard to the further and continuing education programmes at TVU.

Reporting and timescale

7.      TVU's governing body and the HEFCE will keep in close touch with progress in the preparation of the plan. If at any stage the review team identify an issue which requires immediate resolution in order that an effective action plan can be prepared, they should draw that to the attention of the HEFCE and the governing body.

8.      The review team should submit their action plan to the governing body; the plan, together with the governing body's response, should then be submitted to the HEFCE by the end of March 1999. The action plan should set out a clear timetable for the steps to be taken to secure recovery and the establishment of robust academic, managerial and financial procedures:

  1. For the remainder of the academic year 1998-99; and

  2. For the academic year 1999-2000 and thereafter.

HEFCE 13/98

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