Higher education needs a sharper focus on graduate outcomes, the
teaching of skills and improving access for those from
disadvantaged backgrounds says the Education
Committee in a report published today.
The Committee calls on both universities and the Government to
ensure better outcomes for students, expand degree
apprenticeships, make university more accessible to a more
diverse range of students and tackle excessive Vice-Chancellor
pay.
Rt Hon , Chair of the Education
Committee, said: “We know our universities are
among the best in the world and global leaders in teaching and
research, but to maintain standards and to deliver for students
it is vital we ask the question of whether our higher education
system is fit for the 21st century.
The blunt reality is that too many universities are not
providing value for money and that students are not getting good
outcomes from the degrees for which so many of them rack up debt.
Too many institutions are neither meeting our skills needs or
providing the means for the disadvantaged to climb the ladder of
opportunity.
Our higher education system needs to have a much sharper
focus on developing skills. This could make an important
contribution to filling the nation’s skills gaps and solving the
UK’s productivity puzzle. Russell Group universities, including
Oxford and Cambridge, should rise to this challenge, up their
game and rocket boost degree apprenticeships.
Too many institutions exist where Vice-Chancellors and senior
management earn excessive amounts that does not represent value
for either the student or the tax payer. Self-regulation should
be out of the question and the Office for Students must enforce
strict criteria on acceptable levels of pay that could be linked
to average staff pay, performance and other measures.
Graduate outcomes
The report calls for universities to be more transparent about
graduate prospects, in terms of both earnings and destinations.
ONS statistics for 2017 show that 49% of recent graduates were
working in non-graduate roles across the UK. The Committee
believes that an increase in graduate outcomes information can
support more informed choices for students and make institutions
more accountable.
Skills and degree apprenticeships
Higher education must play a more significant role in meeting the
country’s skills needs and preparing students for the Fourth
Industrial Revolution, the report says. According to the
Government's recent Employer Skills Survey, two thirds of
hard-to-fill vacancies are caused, at least in part, by a lack of
skills, qualifications and experience among applicants. The
Committee calls for all institutions to offer degree
apprenticeships which are ‘crucial’ to boosting the country’s
productivity.
Social justice and flexible learning – reintroducing
maintenance grants
The Committee is ‘deeply concerned’ by the fall in both part time
and mature learners, and the impact on the socially disadvantaged
going into higher education. Universities must offer more
flexible learning including credit transfer, work placements and
pauses in study and move away from the ‘rigid’ traditional
three-year undergraduate approach.
Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) found that the
raising of tuition fees in 2012 and the introduction of
maintenance loans has led to students from the poorest
backgrounds accruing debts over a three-year degree of £57,000.
The Government should reinstate the means-tested system of loans
and maintenance grants.
Vice-Chancellor and senior management pay
The report finds that the ‘unjustifiably’ excessive salaries of
Vice-Chancellors have become the norm rather than the exception
and do not represent value for money for students or the
taxpayer. The Times Higher Education’s survey of
Vice-Chancellors’ pay in 2016-17 showed that
Vice-Chancellors were paid an average of £268,103 in salary,
bonuses and benefits.
The Office for Students should take a firmer stance on senior
management remuneration and not be afraid to intervene,
especially when institutions pay their Vice-Chancellor more than
eight times the average staff salary. The Committee calls on the
OfS to publish criteria on acceptable levels of pay that could be
linked to average staff pay, performance and other measures.
Unconditional offers
The report also notes the steep increase in unconditional offers
made to students and calls for the Office for Students to clamp
down on their use, warning that their practice threatens to be
detrimental to the interests of students and to undermine the
higher education system.
