8 November 2006
HEFCE to provide an additional £75 million to support very high cost and vulnerable science subjects
The Higher Education Funding Council for England is to provide £75 million in additional funding to support very high cost science subjects, which are strategically important to the economy and society but vulnerable because of relatively low student demand.
The funding over three years from 2007-08 will support chemistry; physics; chemical engineering; and mineral, metallurgy and materials engineering - to help maintain provision in these subjects in universities and colleges while demand from students grows.
Professor David Eastwood, Chief Executive, told HEFCE's annual meeting today (8 November):
'This funding brings the support that HEFCE is giving to strategically important and vulnerable subjects to nearly a quarter of a billion pounds by 2010. As we reported to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills last month, we are already implementing a £160 million programme of work. Much of this is designed to raise the aspirations of young people to study subjects which are of fundamental importance to the prosperity and knowledge base of the country.
'Through this additional funding of £25 million a year over three years we want to ensure that in the future there will be sufficient provision to meet increased demand from students. Chemistry, physics and some engineering subjects are particularly expensive to provide and have been in relative decline with respect to student numbers.
'We are very impressed with the commitment shown by the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Royal Academy of Engineering to raise demand in these subjects, with our support, through working closely with schools and employers. There are also many other government initiatives being taken forward through the 10-year Science and Innovation Investment Framework.
'We believe it is far more cost-effective to adopt a time-limited approach to sustain capacity while this demand-raising activity produces results. It would be much more expensive to rebuild capacity from scratch to meet increased demand in the future.'
The additional funding for chemistry, physics and the other subjects mentioned will increase the HEFCE teaching grant for these subjects by approximately 20 per cent or by one thousand pounds per student.
Minister for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education, Bill Rammell, said:
'This Government is raising science spending overall by more than £1 billion by 2007-08 compared with 2004-05. We have significantly increased the number of science undergraduates and raised the numbers coming through teacher training in science subjects. This further initiative of £75 million extra support for chemistry and physics will help to bolster these key strategic subjects.'
Notes to editors
1. Terms and conditions will be attached to the funding, which will include a requirement that institutions maintain teaching capacity in the subjects concerned. The money will be allocated by formula to reflect the scale of teaching activity at each institution in the subjects concerned. The details of the allocation method will be considered by our Board in January.
2. Full details about the range and scope of our £160 million programme of work to support strategically important and vulnerable subjects is available in our October 2006 update to the Secretary of State - see http://www.hefce.ac.uk/aboutus/sis.
3. In summary, we are acting to raise student aspiration and attainment in collaboration with the Institute of Physics, the Royal Society of Chemistry, The Royal Academy of Engineering and other professional bodies in science and mathematics. Additional funded student places in science, technology, engineering and mathematics disciplines amount to a further £29 million. We are also working with the Research Councils and the UK's higher education funding bodies to sustain research capacity and capability in areas that are of critical importance to the nation. An example is our £12 million support for the UK wide Area Studies and Related Languages initiative. This aims to create a world class cadre of researchers to enhance the UK's understanding of the Arab World, China, Japan, Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.
4. In addition, we fund several Centres for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CETLs) that support strategically important and vulnerable subjects, for example the ChemsLabS CETL at Bristol University (see http://www.chemlabs.bris.ac.uk/). The £47 million we have committed to support Life-Long Learning Networks will also help to meet regional skills needs and economic priorities of England's regions in conjunction with key stakeholders.