Transcript and Sector Overview – Steve Igoe

Higher Education : The end of a golden age
and the beginnings of a real marketplace
7th Annual Teachers and careers advisers conference
Steve Igoe
Deputy Vice-Chancellor
16th April 2014
edgehill.ac.uk
Aim of Presentation
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Our purpose
What we are, what we do
National context
What we need to do to survive and prosper
edgehill.ac.uk
Our purpose
 The University’s core responsibility is for the ‘student
experience’
 Within this, the University’s core activities are teaching
and learning and research. The vast majority of this
University’s income comes from the former of these
activities
 Both undertaken in a competitive environment
 It is the aim of all staff to be part of these academic
endeavours and to support each other
 We also play a role (direct and indirect) in the local and
regional economy (these include (under-developed)
activities)
edgehill.ac.uk
What we are, what we do
 HE in the UK is a world leader, both in quality of
teaching and learning and assurance of teaching
quality, and in research output
 We can be proud of what we do: we have noble aims
 We have no shareholders, we are a collective,
surpluses get ploughed back into the University
 The University is its staff and student community
 We are also a business in a highly competitive sector
edgehill.ac.uk
1998-2008: a Golden Decade
• By any measure, HE had a good
time:
– Student growth
– Resource
– Research grants and opportunities
– Pay
– Profile
• Where next? Some thoughts:
edgehill.ac.uk
Strong growth in student numbers
Source: UUK
edgehill.ac.uk
Education spending in real terms, England
only: 1997–98 to 2008–09
edgehill.ac.uk
Student demographics
Will start to rise
from here
edgehill.ac.uk
Budget Deficits
edgehill.ac.uk
The Government’s view (1)
• To cut public expenditure and the deficit,
indeed to eradicate it
• Feel universities are too comfortable, and do
not provide value for money to the taxpayer
or the student
• There are huge cuts in HEFCE, TA, SHA
income which will leave large cuts even after
rise in student fees (+ no indexing)
edgehill.ac.uk
The Government’s view(2)
• Current systems fail to sufficiently recognise
different roles for different universities (“our best
universities”)
• Some believe that there are too many
universities, that we can only prove that there is a
real market if a number fail
• Too much research at too low a level
• Quality of teaching needs significant improvement
(weak evidence base)
edgehill.ac.uk
Risks for the sector
Likely implications for the sector
• We live in unprecedented times
• There are significant cuts in HEFCE, SHA, NCTL funding
• There will be a shift to student self-funding
– Student debt has not deterred FTUG students – but has destroyed PG,
PT, mature markets
– Key driver appears to be reputation and attractiveness of the University
• There will be cuts in government research grants
– Increasing emphasis on partnership with private enterprise for funding
– Continued government funding will contract towards STEM only
• Some universities will close
• Greater Government intervention
• Greater Competition
edgehill.ac.uk
Government intervention
• DBIS ‘hands-off’ micro-management (!) to assure the quality
and reputation of UK HE
– Introduction of the UK Quality Code for HE (mandatory aspects)
– Requirement to make public a wide range of (comparative)
Institutional data
– Retention of external scrutiny mechanisms to ‘check on us’
• Quantitative judgements (Institutional Audit 2016/17)
– ‘Risk-based’ mantra driving QAA’s external scrutiny of
Universities, eg:
• Large overseas or e-learning portfolios might increase the intensity of
scrutiny
• Change in Institutional ownership would trigger an external scrutiny
event
• Emergence of more national league tables
• Mechanisms for stakeholders to raise concerns to QAA (and
for subsequent action)
edgehill.ac.uk
Dfe and NCTL
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Ideology over evidence
Schools direct and threats to Secondary ITT
PGCE vs UG
Demand 2013/14 : The security of supply
The end of PPD
Allocations and Ofsted
edgehill.ac.uk
DH and Health commisioning
• 2010-13 Commissions
• New structures for social work
• Tensions: Market demand , spending
reviews and election politics
• A new purchasing structure
• And from whom
• But what of the “Hard Truths”
edgehill.ac.uk
HEFCE – allocated activity
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HEFCE : Funder or Regulator
HE – A Veblen good
Student funding : Realities and perceptions
The future of learner support
The shifting of responsibility :ALF,DSA ,SOF
Scholarships and bursaries – Are they worth it ?
REF and HEIF : A closed shop ?
The abolition of the SNC and 60,000 more students
edgehill.ac.uk
HEFCE – allocated activity
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New Entrants ( for profit and not for profit)
MOOC’s
HE in FE
International and Government immigration policy
edgehill.ac.uk
What does this mean for Edge Hill
• Tough times ahead, doing more for less, working
smarter, working harder
• But we have the following advantages:
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Attractive campus
Rising popularity
Good scores in NSS (needs renewing annually)
Very strong financial position (but limited
endowments/realistic assets)
– Increasing staff numbers bring changing (and
positive) student-focussed, academic and research
culture
edgehill.ac.uk
What does this mean for our staff?
• We must all own the problems and seek
their solution
• Demographics and new fee regime means
we must further enhance reputation
• We must continue to invest in the campus
• Build our research capacity
• Improve our NSS standing
• Continually revise our provision
edgehill.ac.uk
Edge Hill University
 Of our 22,000 students around 9,500 on FT
programmes
 Three Faculties: Arts and Sciences, Education
and Health
 Main campus at Ormskirk, others at Chorley
(Woodlands), University Hospital Aintree
 Other satellite sites, outreach centres; e.g.
some health in Manchester
 The University has a long and successful
history
edgehill.ac.uk
Edge Hill University
• We’ve benefitted from the £9000 fee
– Met student number control
– Increasing numbers of ABB students (650 + in 2013)
– Signs of increasing reputation (+40 places, Times/Sunday Times
(2006 – 2013))
• £120m turnover (and increasing)
– £20m surplus
– Building real estate
– Will build reserves (2014/15)
• League tables:
– 2006: 127th
– 2013: 69th
• We will survive; indeed continue to grow securely
edgehill.ac.uk
Edge Hill Reputation
• Turnover
• Has more than doubled in 7 years
• Surplus of around £19m last year
• Investment of over £180m in new campus facilities in last 7 years
• One of the biggest providers of teacher training/education in the UK
• Had a very good QAA Institutional Audit in 2010 and an OFSTED
inspection with 33 grade 1 scores
• Good, and improving NSS outcomes
• Amongst the best student employability (93.5%) in the sector
• REF entries more than doubled since 2008
• Attracting staff from entire HE sector, especially at entry,
professorial and reader level
• Amongst top 20 places to work in the public sector (Times 2010)
edgehill.ac.uk
Questions?
edgehill.ac.uk