Report 99/27

Regional profiles of higher education

View most recent Regional profiles (January 2004)

Ref 99/27

April 1999

The electronic version of this document contains the Contents and Introduction. Printed copies of this publication are no longer available.

Contents

Introduction

Background to higher education

Map of higher education in England

Regional profiles

North-East
North-West
Yorkshire and the Humber
East Midlands
West Midlands
Eastern
London
South-East
South-West

Annexes

1. Data sources
2. Sector Strategy Committee
3. Regional Consultants
4. Useful addresses

Introduction

There has recently been growing interest in the regional dimension of higher education. This publication is a contribution to that debate from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). It provides a range of comparative information about higher education in the nine Government regions in England, set against a background of basic geographical and economic data.

Although universities and colleges work within a national and often international dimension, there are many aspects of higher education where a regional focus is increasingly significant. Higher education institutions (HEIs) make a major contribution to the economic, social and cultural life of their regions. They play a key role in lifelong learning, and are offering more opportunities to students from a wider variety of backgrounds. Many universities and higher education colleges collaborate with further education colleges in providing courses to meet regional needs.

Since 1 April 1999, Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) have been established in eight of the nine English regions. The agencies have a remit to develop a co-ordinated approach to regional economic renewal, and they will give a new impetus to the regional dimension of higher education. HE is well represented on RDAs, in recognition of the major part it plays in developing human capital, meeting employers’ needs for highly educated and skilled people, and in working with industry, commerce and the wider community through research, training and an array of other contacts.

The Dearing Report, published in July 1997, identified one of the purposes of higher education as: ‘to serve the needs of an adaptable, sustainable, knowledge-based economy at local, regional and national levels’. HEIs bring a wide variety of benefits to their regions, including:

• Direct impact on the economy, as businesses in their own right. The 134 universities and higher education colleges in England spend over £9 billion per year. If related activity is added, the final impact on the economy is estimated at £30 billion.

• An estimated 260,000 people are directly employed by HEIs in England, including 78,000 full-time and 13,000 part-time academic staff.

• HEIs play a key role in training and skills development to create a graduate workforce which is highly skilled, competitive, mobile, and able to meet the needs of employers.

• HEIs work closely with local businesses and industries in developing new products and processes through research and consultancy. Many universities and colleges support the growth of knowledge-based businesses and technology transfer, through their own research departments or in spin-off companies. In 1997-98, HEIs in England raised £1,430 million in grants and contracts for research, of which £170 million came from UK industrial and commercial sources. Other activities for industry and commerce (such as consultancy and training) raised nearly £80 million.

• There are around 70 science parks in England. All have links with universities or national research centres.

• The expertise and facilities of universities and colleges, and the availability of a highly skilled labour force, are major factors in attracting inward investment to a region.

• The quality of life in the regions is enriched by the many facilities and activities that are provided by universities and colleges, often in partnership with their local communities. The range includes libraries, sports facilities, museums and collections, theatres, arts centres, and concert halls. In many communities, access to the cultural, sports and adult education facilities in an HEI also provides a gateway into higher education.

How the HEFCE can support the regional dimension in higher education

The HEFCE is keen to support HEIs in developing their regional role, and in working with RDAs and other regional partners. We will not be seeking to develop a regional plan for higher education. The initiative will remain with HEIs to work out how they, individually and collectively, can best contribute to regional needs in the light of their chosen missions, recognising that many have been working creatively with their regional partners for many years. Nor will the HEFCE lose sight of the fact that HEIs have national, international and local roles, and it would be perverse to assert the regional dimension to the point where it undermines the effective pursuit of those other roles. But the HEFCE has a contribution to make in providing information and analysis, supporting collaboration to achieve regional objectives, and facilitating initiatives which will maximise the HE contribution to meeting regional needs.

To help us carry out these roles, we have appointed eight Regional Consultants. Their remit includes developing an overview of HE in each region, and working with HEIs, further education colleges (FECs), the RDA and others to identify opportunities for development. We have also established a Sector Strategy Committee to advise the Council on issues relating to the institutional and organisational pattern of HE, including regional issues.

We will continue to analyse and disseminate data to inform the regional debate, and would welcome proposals on what further analysis it would be useful to undertake. This will also inform our advice to the Government on the needs of higher education and its contribution to the nation.

A number of our funding programmes have regional aims, notably:

• Supporting HE regional consortia. We are supporting the establishment or development in each region of an HE consortium. Some consortia, such as the Yorkshire and the Humber Universities’ Association, are well established. We are providing matching funding of £25,000 per year for three years to support consortia. It is for each consortium to determine its priorities, but we see them as having valuable functions as a mechanism through which HEIs can work together, and which can help others such as the RDA to engage with higher education through a single access point.

• Restructuring and collaboration fund. We have a funding programme of up to £15 million a year to support major structural changes in HEIs and also new HE collaborative initiatives. We welcome proposals from HEIs for projects which will address regional needs, particularly where non-HE partners are also providing matching funds. We are, for example, supporting scoping studies in a number of areas to test whether the existing pattern of HE provision is sufficient to meet regional needs; and we are supporting various forms of collaboration between HE institutions to share projects and facilities.

• Higher education reach-out to business and the community programme. We have developed, in co-operation with the Department for Trade and Industry and the Department for Education and Employment, proposals for a new fund to increase HEIs’ capability to respond to the needs of business, and the wider community, where this will lead to wealth creation or improved quality of life. The programme will allocate £11 million in 1999-2000 and over £20 million a year thereafter. Through this fund we hope especially to encourage regional collaborative activity between HEIs and with RDAs and others. We also hope that it will complement work supported by the RDAs’ Skills Funds.

• Widening participation programme. Widening access to HE for under-represented groups will be a priority for every region. In 1998-99 we are funding networks in each region to develop an infrastructure through which wider access and participation can be supported. The available funds for access projects and initiatives will rise from £1.5 million in 1998-99 to at least £5 million in 1999-2000.

• Higher education in further education colleges. We have taken over, from the Further Education Funding Council, responsibility for funding most types of higher education in further education colleges. From 1999-2000 we will fund such courses in around 270 further education colleges. The locally accessible nature of further education colleges makes them valuable partners in work to widen access in each region on a collaborative basis. We are allocating 17,700 additional HE student places to FECs in 1999-2000. There are already many well-established local and regional partnerships between HEIs and FECs for co-operative delivery of higher education programmes, and we will encourage their growth. One consideration which will increasingly inform the allocation of additional student places is evidence of HE providers working together to identify and meet regional needs.

• Metropolitan Area Networks (MANs). We continue to support the development of high-speed electronic networks to link up groups of HEIs within metropolitan areas. These MANs will preferably be linked into the SuperJANET electronic backbone, supported jointly by the four UK higher education funding bodies. We are working with the Further Education Funding Council to get FECs linked to the network as well.

Conclusion

This publication is the first HEFCE document in which we have addressed the regional aspects of higher education. There are many issues to be explored about the pattern of provision in each region, and how we can best align provision with needs, without distorting the other purposes of higher education.

We are eager to work with others - to provide information, to engage in partnerships, and to support, through funding and other means, the development of higher education to meet regional needs.