The Higher Education and Research Bill
The Higher Education and Research Bill fundamentally reforms the regulatory archi-tecture of higher education in England, and the government’s research agencies that operate across the UK. The last time such comprehensive reforms were introduced was through the Further and Higher Education Act 1992. Accompanying the Bill is the White Paper, ‘Higher education: success as a knowledge economy’.
The UK’s higher education sector is a national success story, attracting students and researchers from around the world. Universities are also operating in an increasingly competitive environment and as such are responsive to the needs of students and employers. 86% of students studying in the UK are satisfied with their course and we outperform our international competitors in 15 out of 23 international student ba-rometer benchmarks.
Key reforms proposed by the Bill
The principal reforms legislated for in the Bill include:
• reducing the number of arm’s-length bodies, from 10 to two:
- the Office for Students: merging the Office for Fair Access with the learn-ing and teaching functions of the Higher Education Funding Council for England
- UK Research and Innovation: bringing together the seven research coun-cils, Innovate UK, and the current research functions of the Higher Educa-tion Funding Council for England in a committee of UK Research and In-novation, to be called Research England
• establishing the Teaching Excellence Framework, which will assess institu-tions on the quality of their teaching, and provide for a link between perfor-mance in this assessment and the fee cap which applies to the institution
• allowing the secretary of state to limit those institutions which can increase tuition fees in line with inflation to those that can demonstrate high-quality teaching, based on performance in the Teaching Excellence Framework
• giving the Office for Students significant power over granting and revoking degree awarding powers, allowing for the possibility of ‘probationary’ degree awarding powers and a quicker route to gaining university title requiring all providers to have protection plans in place setting out how students would be supported in the event of course or university closure
• placing a requirement on universities and admissions bodies to publish data related to admissions and course completion rates
Entry to the market for new higher education providers
The Bill gives the newly-created Office for Students (OfS) the ability to give institu-tions degree awarding powers (DAPs). This power currently sits with the Privy Coun-cil, which acts on the basis of guidance and criteria set out by the Department for Education (DfE), with advice from the Quality Assurance Agency. In using these pow-ers, the OfS will also act according to guidance from the appropriate government department.
The government has made clear in the White Paper that the criteria for institutions wishing to be granted DAPs will be less restrictive than they are at present. The cur-rent criteria involve a requirement for a track record in delivering higher education (normally through a validation arrangement with another institution which has its own DAPs). Currently, institutions are required to have delivered higher education for a period of at least four consecutive years before they can be given the power to award their own degrees.
The White Paper also outlines plans for institutions to be given probationary degree awarding powers through which they could award degrees on a probationary basis for a period of three years with no track record in delivering higher education.
The requirement in the Bill for institutions to put in place a Student Protection Plan should give additional assurances to students that their interests will be protected should institutions or courses close.
The Bill also transfers powers to award the use of university title (the ability for an institution to call itself a university) to the OfS.
Powers of the Office for Students and the secretary of state
The Bill grants the OfS the power to make use of a range of sanctions against institu-tions, some with no formal means of independent appeal. The sanctions available to the OfS include fines, removal from the formal register of higher education provid-ers, and removal or suspension of the ability to award degrees or university title – including from institutions awarded university title or DAPs through specific Royal Charters or Acts of Parliament.
The Bill also allows for the secretary of state to ‘frame’ the guidance given to the OfS ‘by reference to particular courses’.
Teaching Excellence Framework and tuition fees
The Bill provides the legislative framework for the government to introduce the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) that is outlined in its White Paper. The TEF will be an assessment of the quality of institutions’ teaching (with the intention of as-sessments at course level in the future), which will be made available both to inform students and to have a role in determining the fee cap which applies to individual institutions.
Social mobility
One of the key priorities for the government is to widen participation in higher edu-cation. The OfS will have new powers to require institutions to provide data on a number of measures relating to admissions and the retention of students – including from UCAS.
The new OfS retains the power currently held by the Office for Fair Access to require universities to submit and adhere to specific plans in relation to access and participa-tion if they are to charge fees above the ‘basic rate’ (currently £6,000 per year).
Research and innovation agencies
The Bill allows for the reforms of the government agencies which fund and support research in the UK, many of which reflect the recommendations of the Nurse Review published in November 2015. The various existing research councils and Innovate UK will be brought together as ‘autonomous councils’ of one body: UK Research and In-novation (UKRI). These councils will, as at present, operate across the UK as a whole.
Also within UKRI will be an autonomous Research England, which will have responsi-bility for funding research in higher education institutions in England. This stream of funding will reflect that currently dispersed by HEFCE through the quality-related (QR) funding stream. This is funding that is granted on the basis of research excel-lence, rather than to fund a particular named research project. This type of funding plays an important role in underpinning the sector as a whole, allowing for invest-ment in interdisciplinary and experimental research, and for institutions to establish research centres and projects in new areas.
The Bill allows the minister to change or alter the committee/council line-up through regulation, with the exception of Innovate UK and Research England, which have ad-ditional protections.
The Bill provides for cooperation and information sharing between UKRI and the OfS and the White Paper states that there will be close working between the two bodies.
Devolution
Devolution impacts the Bill and its policy objectives in ways that are likely to be complex and will require further discussion and scrutiny. The sector is made up of institutions with functions split across devolved and non-devolved policy areas. Scot-tish, Welsh and Northern Irish institutions may choose (whether en masse or individ-ually) to ‘opt in’ to the TEF, and HEFCE currently operates elements of the Research Excellence Framework process on behalf of the funding councils in all four nations.
The OfS and UKRI to have the ability to enter discussions with the relevant funding bodies in the devolved nations and to perform functions on a UK-wide basis when this is agreed.