UK: MPs demand reform changes to tackle access

MPs have urged the UK government to delay piecemeal implementation of key higher education reforms in England and to reconsider measures proposed to ensure that disadvantaged students are not put off attending university.

They fear the government will not achieve its aim of funding widening participation through a proportion of tuition fees and believe it should consider paying a premium per student to universities.

Under the reforms, direct government funding has been cut by 40% and the cap on tuition fees raised to up to £9,000 (US$14,300) to fill the gap. In addition there are changes to support via a progressive payback system for subsidised student loans, maintenance grants, scholarships and fee waivers designed to ensure broad participation.

However, in a report by the select committee on business, innovation and skills, released on Thursday 10 November, the MPs warned that current proposals could "polarise" the higher education sector into 'traditional' universities versus a 'low cost' alternative.

"This could have undesirable consequences for social mobility if able candidates from lower socio-economic backgrounds felt constrained to choose lower-cost provision," the report says.

A decision to allow unrestrained recruitment of high-achieving applicants will mean that top universities that attract students with AAB grades at A-level will be allowed to expand by luring such students away from middle-grade universities.

The effect would be to make distribution of resources for those institutions match more closely the distribution of A-level scores and research shows children from private schools are much more likely to achieve AAB grades, the report warned.

The MPs recommended that the headline tuition fee rate be cut to reduce the size of student loans and be supplemented by a student premium (funding per student) for disadvantaged students. This would be paid directly to universities as additional income, to provide an incentive to give places to people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

They also recommended that the National Scholarship Programme be refocused to direct public funds to support living costs of students.

Focusing financial support on providing money for living costs to students while they are studying would be more effective than offering fee waivers as currently planned, they said.

This would be "more consistent with the message that students should be dissuaded from applying to university because of cost", MPs concluded.

Adrian Bailey, chair of the committee, said: "The government's reforms of higher education are wide-ranging and comprehensive. While we welcome the aim to put students at the heart of the system, that ambition will only be realised if the government delivers the reforms on time and as a package."

But David Willetts, minister for universities and science, dismissed the call for a delay. He said: "We have to get on with ending the present system of setting quotas of places at each university because it lets students down."

Willets said the government had already told universities to be much more ambitious with their plans for attracting people from low-income backgrounds. He expects university investment in programmes such as summer schools, scholarships and fee waivers to increase significantly.

"No student should be put off from going to university because they don't know the facts about our student finance reforms," he said. "We have a team of recent graduates touring schools and colleges across the country to help students and parents understand the changes to student finance."

The MPs supported the reform proposals for the provision of better and more extensive information, advice and guidance for prospective students, the extension of tuition fee loans to part-time students, and clearer requirements on universities to widen participation.

But, while recognising the need for graduates to contribute to the cost of their education, they criticised the government's poor communications strategy on tuition fees.

The report was published a day after thousands of students took to the streets of London to protest against the tripling of tuition fees, although the protests were much smaller than demonstrations earlier in the year.

The MPs said the reforms were not yet complete, with a number of consultation exercises not yet concluded. These include those concerning early repayment of student loans, the future of student number controls, loans for students studying at alternative providers and a new regulatory framework for new and alternative providers.

There also needed to be changes to the Office for Fair Access and the Higher Education Funding Council for England, to reflect their changing responsibilities.