Universities UK responded today to the speech from Universities
Minister on 'delivering value for money
for students and taxpayers'.
Responding to the speech, Dame Julia Goodfellow,
President of Universities UK and Vice-Chancellor of the
University of Kent, said:“The current fee and
income-contingent loan system in England has enabled universities
to continue to provide students with the world-class education
they rightly expect. Overall, student satisfaction levels are
very high across all the country’s universities, and that is down
to the hard work and commitment of university staff.
“While the current system protects those graduates who go on to
earn relatively less, with a public subsidy applied to the costs
of their education, there is a need to address current concerns
about how the writing off of debt is perceived by students and
their families. Universities UK wants to ensure the current
system is as accessible and as fair as
possible.
“Universities are publishing more information about what
universities spend their money on, making sure it is accessible
and meaningful to students and parents. A recent survey by ComRes
for Universities UK showed that, while students have high levels
of trust in their university, they also want more personalised
advice and support.”
Commenting on plans to develop
the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF),
Dame Julia said: “The planned pilots to run the new
Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) at subject level will be an
opportunity to see whether this is feasible and adds value to
students. The TEF remains in development and the challenge will
be to develop the system to ensure the information is properly
communicated and helpful to students in the decision making
process. The scheme will be subject to a full, independent review
in 2019 to assess whether it is fit for purpose and helping
students.”
On the planned consultation on student contracts, Dame
Julia added: “All universities have contracts with
their students. The sector has been responding to the advice of
the Competition and Markets Authority to ensure that these are
fair and transparent. Students also have avenues of redress both
through internal university processes and via the independent
adjudicator for higher education and, ultimately, through the
courts. It is important that promises made to students are kept
and Universities UK will continue to work with government and the
Office for Students to ensure that this is the case.”
