Top UK universities urge scrapping of free-for-all student recruitment plan

Richard Adams:

Wendy Piatt, director-general of the Russell Group of universities – which represents research-intensive universities such as Oxford and Manchester – said the HEPI report on Australia’s experience raised “serious concerns” about the ending of firm controls on student numbers.

“Now that the government no longer intends to use the sale of the student loan book to fund the uncapping of student numbers in England, we would urge it to abandon the policy or at least consider much more robust ways of controlling costs and quality,” Piatt said.

“We would be extremely concerned if the substantial funds required to pay for additional students were taken from the already very stretched budget for research and higher education. It would be very worrying if this policy leads to less funding per student. Good teaching requires proper levels of investment.”

While Australia spent years preparing the groundwork for open enrolments in its universities, the English approach “was put together quickly and remains fuzzy,” according to Hillman, including the Treasury’s forecast of an additional 60,000 students a year.