Published on Wed Jun 29 06:00:00 BST 2011
UNIVERSITIES will be forced to compete with each other for a quarter of the students they recruit under a massive shake-up aimed at creating a marketplace within the country's higher education system.
The Government will allow universities to recruit unlimited numbers of the most talented students and will also offer 20,000 places to higher education providers who can deliver cheaper courses for less than £7,500.
The long-awaited Higher Education White Paper published yesterday also includes plans to "radically improve" information published on university courses and graduate job prospects to allow students to make better informed choices as tuition fees soar to £9,000-a-year in 2012.
Ministers claim the reforms will open up the higher education sector to new providers and allow universities to respond to student demand. However student and lecturers unions claim the Government is trying to solve a funding crisis it created by allowing universities to charge a maximum fee of £9,000.
The Government is facing a massive funding shortfall after the majority of universities – including five in Yorkshire – announce d plans to set top level fees next year. Ministers had expected an average charge of £7,500.
The cost of the fees will be met in advance by the Treasury and paid back once graduates earn more than £21,000.
Now Ministers are making 20,000 student places available for institutions which charge less than £7,500. This measure is likely to increase the number of further education colleges and private providers who run degree courses. No university in the region is planning to charge less than £7,500.
Huddersfield University's deputy vice chancellor Prof Peter Slee said that middle-ranked universities will suffer as a result of the reforms as they risk losing top students to more prestigious universities and will also be unable to compete for the places reserved for cheaper courses. He also warned courses that had difficulty recruiting students – including some languages – could be axed as universities look to cut costs.
Under the current system university places are capped and institutions are fined if they exceed their limit. However the coalition is set to make 65,000 places up for grabs for any students who gain at least two A grades and a B at A-level. There will also be a further 20,000 places to be fought for by universities and colleges that offer "good quality" courses for £7,500 or less.
Prof Slee added: "This number of 20,000 looks to me to be the thin end of a very thick wedge. The Government is trying to artificially create a marketplace."
The White Paper was held back following the outcry over huge increases in fees.
The reforms have been announced more than six months after MPs voted through the decision to almost triple the cap on tuition fees to £9,000 from next year following a massive cut to university teaching budgets of 80 per cent over four years.
Announcing the proposals yesterday, Universities Minister David Willetts said: "We have tried in the first year to get the balance right between significantly opening up the system – it's about one in four places contestable – without imposing too much turbulence in the system.
"For the future we want go further, year on year."
Mr Willetts estimated that 350,000 new students will start courses in autumn 2012, who will be eligible for fees and loans. Of these, 85,000 places will be contestable by universities.
The package of reforms also contains plans to allow employers and charities to sponsor student places outside the current cap.
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