16.06.09
1994 Group response to NUS Blueprint for HE funding
The 1994 Group, representing 18 of the UK’s leading research-intensive universities, welcomes the latest contribution from the NUS to the higher education funding debate and looks forward to reviewing in detail the proposals set out in ‘Funding our Future: Blueprint for an Alternative Higher Education Funding System.’
The 1994 Group considers all proposals that would ensure enhanced funding and support for our world class research-intensive universities with interest, but urges the Government to resist any major structural changes that could have an unnecessary destabilising effect on the sector, when the fees and bursaries system is working well.
Paul Marshall, Executive Director of the 1994 Group, commented “A regulated market in Higher Education, with a diverse range of institutions competing within an agreed framework, is the best way to drive up excellence in research and teaching and deliver student satisfaction.”
“A funding framework for higher education must respect both the power of the market to drive up excellence and the importance of diversity of the sector in terms of mission, size, and institutional ambition. The current system should be grown and developed, rather than fundamentally changed.”
The 1994 Group believes that whilst it should be the role of the funding councils and government to set the framework in which competition takes place, beyond that, autonomous higher education institutions must have the freedom to establish their own positions within the market place.
Paul Marshall added: “It is right that higher education is free at the point of delivery and that fees are repaid by graduates on an income-contingent basis. It is also essential that higher education continues to play a key strategic role in enhancing widening participation, but it should also be recognised that this problem is a broader one, mainly stemming from prior attainment and aspirations. A system of variable fees has been and remains the correct strategy in tackling both widening participation and the future of higher education funding.”
Notes to Editors
1. The 1994 Group represents 18 of UK’s leading research intensive universities. It was established in 1994 to promote excellence in University research and teaching. www.1994group.ac.uk
2. 1994 Group members include 10 of the top 18 universities in the UK in The Guardian University Guide League Table published on the 12th May 2009; 11 of the top 25 universities in The Complete University Guide published in the Independent on the 30th April 2009; 9 of the top 200 universities in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2008. 5 of the top 8 universities for student experience are 1994 Group Universities (2008 National Student Survey). The Times Good University Guide 2010 league tables published on the 3rd June 2009 put 1994 Group universities top in six regions of the UK
3. The 1994 Group represents: University of Bath, Birkbeck University of London, Durham University, University of East Anglia, University of Essex, University of Exeter, Goldsmiths University of London, Royal Holloway University of London, Lancaster University, University of Leicester, Loughborough University, Queen Mary University of London, University of Reading, University of St Andrews, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of Surrey, University of Sussex, University of York.
4. Press Enquiries or Interviews please contact Alistair Jarvis, Director of Communications, 1994 Group. Tel: 0207 872 5596 or 07779 232 731. Email: alistair.jarvis@1994group.co.uk rn