How teaching is funded

From 2012-13, the Government decided that more public funding would be provided directly to students, as up front tuition loans and less funding would be provided to institutions as teaching grants from HEFCE.

This supports the aims of increasing student choice and supporting a more diverse sector.

Controlling student numbers

Since the Government now provides more public funding directly to students in the form of student support and loans this means it needs to control this funding. To do this, it asks us to control the number of students each university and college can recruit.

We do this by setting a limit for each university and college on student recruitment. This limit is referred to as the ‘student number control’.

The ‘high-grades’ policy

Since 2012-13 the Government has also encouraged popular and successful institutions to expand through a ‘high-grades’ policy.

This policy allows universities and colleges to recruit as many students with high grades at A-level and certain equivalent qualifications (broadly defined each year by government policy) as they wish, and are able to, outside of their student number control.

More about high grades and controlling student numbers

Funding for teaching

We have a fixed budget to support teaching which will need to be focused on priority areas where tuition fees alone may not meet all costs.

From 2013-14 onwards this will cover:

Funding for high-cost subjects (We identify these subjects through ‘price groups’. This funding will be provided to those subjects that are currently in price groups A, B and C1).
Funding to support very high cost STEM subjects
Taught postgraduate courses to ensure this provision is not adversely affected by the changes in student-led finance.
Flexible learning: part-time and alternative modes of study
Additional funding for providers operating in London.
A Student Opportunity allocation to help ensure successful outcomes for students, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and to widen participation and improve social mobility.
Funding for providers with distinctive provision (those typically specialist providers with distinctive provision providing additional public value)
Strategically important and vulnerable subjects.

Background to our work

All our work in this area follows the Government's policy to change the way in which it funds teaching at universities and colleges as set out in the recent White Paper on HE, 'Higher education: students at the heart of the system'.