August 2003/42
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| To: | Heads of HEFCE-funded higher education institutions Heads of HEFCE-funded further education colleges Heads of universities in Northern Ireland |
| Of interest to those responsible for: | Finance, Planning |
| Reference: | 2003/42 |
| Publication date: | August 2003 |
| Enquiries to: | HEFCE higher education advisers |
Executive summary (read on-line)
Responses were due by 14th November 2003. The online response form is now closed.
Supporting reports and simulation of funding outcomes
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Executive summary
Purpose
1. This document seeks views on proposals to develop our methods for funding teaching, and widening access and improving retention, for 2004-05 and beyond. Further information is available on our web-site, www.hefce.ac.uk under Learning & teaching. This includes reports of studies that have informed our proposals. A simulation of the funding implications for individual institutions if these proposals were to be implemented will be available in September.
Key points
2. The proposed changes to the main funding method for teaching relate chiefly to parameters (such as weighting factors), and to the incorporation within teaching funds of previously separate elements of grant. We are also consulting on how our funding methods for widening access and improving retention should develop.
3. During 2004 we intend to embark on further consultation on how our funding methods for teaching should develop in the longer term. In particular, this will cover how the underlying principle of our funding method might be revised in the light of the Government's proposals to introduce differential tuition fees from 2006-07. It will also cover how we should measure institutions' activity.
4. The issues on which we now seek comments relate to:
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Changes to how activity is assigned to the broad subject-related price groups, and how those price groups should be weighted in the funding method.
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The sector-wide assumptions we make about tuition fee income for postgraduate taught and part-time undergraduate students.
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The introduction of a 10 per cent premium for students on foundation degree courses.
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The funding of sandwich years-out.
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The introduction of a 10 per cent premium for part-time students.
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The incorporation of funding for rewarding and developing staff into our teaching funding allocations.
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The incorporation of compensation for increases in the Teachers' Pension Scheme into our teaching funding allocations, and the ending of the current pensions premium.
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Development of the formula method for funding widening access and improving retention.
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Reducing the level of detail collected in our annual aggregate recruitment surveys, by using individualised student data from a previous year to determine the proportions of students with particular characteristics to apply to the aggregate student number counts.
Action required
5. We welcome comments on these proposals: Annex A contains the form, which should be completed online. It can be found on our web-site, www.hefce.ac.uk, either under Learning & teaching or with this document under Publications. The deadline for responses is Friday 14 November 2003.