Don’t shrink universities, UUK president tells ministers

The “stakes are high” ahead of the spending review, and any government decisions to “shrink or underfund universities or colleges” could “damage and set back the very towns, cities and regions that the government most wants to level up”, according to the new Universities UK president.

Steve West, the University of the West of England vice-chancellor, will issue that warning in a speech to UUK’s annual conference, where the education secretary, Gavin Williamson, will be present, on 9 September.

The speech comes amid continuing delay over the government’s pledge to consult with the sector over planned changes to post-18 education, stemming from the Augar review, ahead of the comprehensive spending review – a three-year plan to be delivered on 27 October, it has been confirmed.

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The delay appears to stem from an impasse between the Department for Education, which wants a wholesale “rebalancing” from higher to further education, and the Treasury, which is said to be prioritising changes to student loans to recoup more costs.

“The stakes are high,” Professor West will say of the spending review. “The right policy decisions can ensure that anyone with the potential and ability to succeed at university can do so and deliver the supply of talented, highly educated, skilled people that business, public services and communities need.

“But the wrong decisions may constrain, damage and set back the very towns, cities and regions that the government most wants to level up, slowing our recovery and delaying our push towards an inclusive, prosperous global Britain.”

He will add: “We know the economic environment is challenging, but the country needs its universities more than ever to help drive our post-Covid recovery, to support our NHS and to create good, sustainable jobs in our local communities.”

And he will warn: “Now is not the time to shrink or underfund universities or colleges. Now is not the time to crush aspiration and social mobility by reducing places for people to study at university. Cutting opportunity and reducing life chances is not the way forward.

“We must build on our rich education and training ecosystem and sector diversity to expand choice and accelerate the delivery of apprenticeships, degrees and accredited flexible lifelong learning pathways that meet the needs of society and the economy…Think long-term aims, not short-term gains, and create the sustainable conditions for innovation, jobs and new green industries that will shape our local and global futures.”

Professor West will also call for a government “doubling down on the commitment to invest 2.4 per cent of GDP in R&D, and the dedicated and sustainable funding for the UK’s participation in Horizon Europe, which is a vital part of this”.

On Covid, he will say of universities: “We achieved major innovations in a time frame that we would never have thought possible before the pandemic. We supported our NHS and local communities with practical help, supplies, staff and students, and we proudly stood shoulder to shoulder with each other. This has ignited a new sense of civic purpose and a determination to be more collaborative, innovative, creative and challenging across all that we do.”

And universities “will continue to harness the benefits of technological advances where this enhances the overall student experience and where our students tell us this is what they want”, he will say.

“To politicians and commentators who have asked ‘Why not everything in person?’ Well, I respectfully point out that that the move to some teaching, learning and assessment online was already happening pre-Covid because students have been clear that digital developments can enhance their learning and outcomes.

“The pandemic merely accelerated the pace of change as we innovated and harnessed the potential of technologies. In education – as in all other areas of our lives – not least in my own healthcare practice – we must not simply revert to how things were before.”

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com