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28 June 2005

HEFCE takes forward programme of support for strategically important and vulnerable subjects

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is bringing together a series of activities to support certain subjects which are regarded as strategically important and vulnerable. Intervention, however, should be effective, targeted and proportionate, the HEFCE Board has advised the Secretary of State for Education and Skills.

The HEFCE Board's response to the invitation by the Secretary of State issued last December (see Note 1) is published today (28 June) on the HEFCE web-site. The Board gave its advice after considering a report from HEFCE's strategically important subjects advisory group, chaired by Sir Gareth Roberts (see Note 2).

The group concentrated its advice on subjects which are both strategically important and vulnerable (see Note 3). The subjects divide into five main areas: science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects); modern languages; area studies and related languages; quantitative social science; and land-based studies.

The HEFCE Board accepted the group's advice that the country has a healthy and vibrant higher education system. It also endorsed the view of the Science and Technology Select Committee that it would be exaggerating to say that university science departments are in crisis. Nevertheless, there are risks and opportunities in different subject areas which need to be addressed (see Note 4).

Therefore, HEFCE is taking forward and enhancing existing work to support these subjects, including:

  • collaborating with organisations and groups seeking to increase informed demand for particular subjects, such as the Research Councils, Royal Society of Chemistry, Institute of Physics, Institute of Mathematics and its Applications, the Royal Academy of Engineering, British Computing Society, and the University Council of Modern Languages
  • encouraging early contact between HEFCE and higher education institutions where strategic and vulnerable subjects are at risk, which may enable the transfer of provision in both teaching and research to another institution
  • collaborating with the Arts and Humanities Research Council and the Economic and Social Research Council to develop longer-term strategies for sustainability in area studies and related languages. HEFCE is currently meeting with relevant sector bodies, such as the UK Council for Area Studies Associations, to discuss appropriate action. Action will be aimed particularly at ensuring critical mass by developing one or more national centres where national capacity is considered necessary
  • supporting national reviews in a very small number of subjects, such as land-based studies (see Note 5)
  • working closely with the Sector Skills Councils and Regional Development Agencies to ensure that the demand from employers is recognised and met.

Sir Howard Newby, Chief Executive of HEFCE, said:

'The dynamism of higher education in England is a great strength, and intervention should be kept to a minimum. The Board agreed that we should avoid a blanket approach and not attempt to second guess the market. In an evolving and diverse higher education system where institutions are autonomous, we must uphold the right of managers to manage and not interfere with their chosen strategic direction.
'HEFCE can take an overall view of higher education provision and identify where the aggregate individual interests of universities and colleges do not necessarily match the national or regional interest. We are keen to develop our role by working with institutions and other partners to deliver a co-ordinated response to significant mismatches between the supply and demand of strategic subjects.
'We commend the advice to Ministers and look forward to hearing their views in due course.'

The Board agreed that any intervention by HEFCE would need to take place within a clear framework based on the following principles:

  • a clear evidence base
  • wherever possible to support a market-led solution
  • to look at issues holistically and ensure that problems of demand are not addressed with supply solutions (and vice versa)
  • to seek wherever possible to work in partnership with all those with an interest in protecting strategic and vulnerable subjects
  • to intervene only where there is a clear understanding of the nature of the problem, where it is located and where HEFCE intervention is appropriate
  • working with the DfES and DTI on their review of initiatives to improve aspirations and attainment in STEM subjects in the context of the Ten Year Science and Innovation Framework.

Sir Gareth Roberts, chair of the advisory group, said:

'HEFCE has a good track record over several years of acting to support both supply and demand in strategic and vulnerable subjects in higher education, collaborating with many partners and acting as a broker to sustain or develop human and physical capacity within HE. We believe that the way forward is for HEFCE to develop this role, working collaboratively and sensitively with others.
'In my previous "SET for Success" review, we identified the trends as not just UK-wide, but a global phenomenon. The key to tackling the issue is to have a concerted approach linking schools, further education colleges, higher education and employers.'

Variations between subjects

The report provides a statistical analysis of different subjects based on a range of data including A-level results, UCAS applications and undergraduate provision (see Note 6). In the STEM subjects there is a mixed picture between 1999 and 2003.

Mathematics, chemistry, chemical engineering, mineral, metallurgy, materials engineering and information technology have declined in terms of undergraduate provision. Some engineering has seen increases in activity, including computer software engineering , electrical, electronic and computer engineering . Civil engineering, general engineering, mechanical, aero and production engineering have seen a steady state or only very slightly declining activity.

Biosciences and physics have seen virtually no change over the period, whereas pharmacy, medicine, dentistry and veterinary sciences have all seen a rise in activity. The report notes:

'Perhaps students are not simply shying away from "harder" subjects as implied by some of the evidence put to the Science and Technology Select Committee. Rather, this may be seen as changes within the profile of sciences studied.'

The report provides a number of case studies where HEFCE has acted as a broker encouraging collaboration between HEIs offering strategic and vulnerable subjects.

Examples of HEFCE-funded projects to encourage collaboration between professional bodies, HEIs and other stakeholders to promote strategic and vulnerable subjects

Chemistry, the next generation

This national Aimhigher project is a partnership between the Royal Society of Chemistry, the University of Leicester, 11 other higher education institutions (HEIs), three multi-national pharmaceutical companies and two Sector Skills Councils. Funded at a cost of £942,000, the two-year pilot will promote the excitement of studying chemical sciences and the good career opportunities that are available. It will focus on pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and schools or colleges where progression rates to HE are low.

The Royal Academy of Engineering

Following a conference in April 2005, the National Engineering Programme was developed. A pilot phase of the National Engineering Programme, the London Engineering Project, involving the Royal Academy of Engineering, London South Bank University and 13 other partner organisations will develop methods for increasing and widening participation in engineering in HE in London. It will co-ordinate work on STEM subjects in 15 secondary schools and 35 feeder primary schools; and develop engineering courses in three selected HE institutions. A key concept is prospecting for potential engineering students by running hands-on STEM activities in schools to identify pupils with an aptitude for mathematics and logical thinking. £2.85 million has been committed by HEFCE for phase 1 of the project.

Support for professional bodies

The following professional bodies have been awarded funding for scoping projects, to investigate the possibility for future initiatives.

The Institute of Physics

The Institute of Physics is running a 'pump-priming' exercise at a cost of approximately £40,000. It includes a brief research programme; a literature review, with an analysis of other countries that are successful in Physics recruitment; and regional meetings to develop actions for physics. These have involved academics, schoolteachers, college lecturers, employers, Sector Skills Councils and the Regional Development Agencies.

The British Computer Society

The British Computer Society has been awarded approximately £18,000 to fund its scoping project which will involve initial research, two regional workshops in autumn 2005, and a follow-up meeting to discuss the way forward.

The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications

The Institute of Mathematics and its Applications has been awarded approximately £30,000 to fund a project officer and four regional workshops.

EPSRC Science and Innovation Awards

HEFCE and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council have provided £3.5 million of funding to the University of Nottingham to expand innovation in chemical engineering and chemistry and £4.1 million to the University of Warwick to set up a new centre for statistics research in the UK. Three other initiatives have been funded in Wales and Scotland and a second award selection round is underway.

Notes

1.    In December 2004, the Secretary of State for Education and Skills asked HEFCE for its view on 'whether there are any higher education subjects or courses that are of national strategic importance, where intervention might be appropriate to enable them to be available...and the types of intervention which it believes could be considered'. The Secretary of State stated that he was 'not looking for a new set of possible initiatives, nor a bid for extra funds. And it may well be that you suggest that action to be taken should not fall to the Funding Council itself'.

2.    Following a meeting of the HEFCE Board in December, the strategic subjects advisory group, chaired by Sir Gareth Roberts, was set up and met three times between January and April 2005. The members of the group were: Professor George Kolankiewicz (University College London); Dame Janet Ritterman (Royal College of Music); Professor Peter Scott (Kingston University); Sir Richard Sykes (Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) and Dr Liz Beaty (HEFCE). The advisory group's report was sent by David Young, HEFCE Chairman, to Ruth Kelly, Secretary of State for Education and Employment on 22 June.

3.    The group concentrated on subjects which were both strategically important and vulnerable. Vulnerability can be generated by either a mismatch between supply and demand, or by a concentration of the subject in institutions which may be vulnerable to change (such as monotechnics). This led the group to focus on:

  • science, technology, engineering and mathematics
  • area studies and related languages, including:
    1. Arabic and Turkish language studies and other Middle Eastern area studies, former Soviet Union Caucasus and central Asian area studies
    2. Japanese, Chinese, Mandarin and other far eastern languages and area studies
    3. Courses relating to recent EU accession countries, especially those in Eastern Europe and the Baltic (which includes new accession countries such as Bulgaria and Romania scheduled for entry in January 2007)
  • modern foreign languages
  • land-based studies
  • quantitative social science.

4.    The group has found the analysis in the Science and Technology Select Committee's recent enquiry into strategic science provision in English universities very useful but expressed some reservations about the Report's recommendations. House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, Strategic Science Provision in English Universities, Eighth Report of Session 2004-05, Volume 1: paragraph 15.

5.    HEFCE has invited heads of appropriate institutions to a meeting in July to discuss a review of land-based studies (for example, to include arable and fruit farming, crop production, equine studies, livestock husbandry, rural estate management and agricultural technology). Professor Maggie Gill (Chief Executive and Director of Research at the Macaulay Institute in Scotland) has been appointed as Chair of the review group which will hold its first meeting in autumn 2005.

6.    The report uses measures based on student activity rather than named qualification. See explanation in Annex B to the report, page 18.