The late publication of the Higher Education White Paper shows how much the coalition government have struggled to turn their grand plans regarding the university sector into a reality.
There are a small amount of positives within a document that fails to provide the clarity the sector was hoping for: most notably the provision of more information for students applying to university, which will facilitate more informed decision making. However, the central message that these changes will put students at the centre of the system seems to remain merely positive rhetoric unrealised throughout the document.
The paper plans to allow institutions to accept students with AAB grades regardless of whether the university has reached their cap on undergraduate admissions. SURHUL is concerned about the impact this policy will have on widening access, because students with AAB are more likely to be from private or grammar schools. The creation of this second market could create a two tiered admission system.
The advantages bestowed on AAB students seems in direct conflict with the policy to allow universities that charge under £7,500 to admit more undergraduates. SURHUL is concerned this will threaten the quality of teaching in such institutions and represents the government trying to fix is flawed fee setting policy, rather than act on behalf of students.
Finally, international, postgraduate and mature students are not mentioned. SURHUL believes that their omission from the government’s radar further represents a lack of understanding about the diversity of institutions and its importance to the student experience and the identity of UK universities. This particularly pertinent to Royal Holloway, University of London, which has been ranked as the 88th best university in the world the Times Higher Education supplement.