Loading ...Review into lifting fees cap launched
The government has announced that former BP Chief Executive Lord Browne of Madingley will lead the panel set to review student tuition fees.
The Chair of British Youth Council’s (BYC) Board of Trustees, Rajay Naik, will join the panel as a student voice.
The group will conduct a review into student tuition fees and higher education funding. According to a government website, they have been tasked with “making recommendations to Government on the future of fees policy and financial support for full and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students.”
Lord Mandelson, Business Secretary, said that the review will consider, “all who would be affected by any changes, including current and potential students.”
Yesterday the National Union of Students (NUS) warned Government against a “cosy stitch-up” on fees, citing research carried out by YouGov on more than 2000 adults in Britain suggesting that 52% think that the forthcoming review should consider abolishing top-up fees.
This research also showed that 71% of the general public thought that there should be a student representative on the review panel.
Commenting on the appointment of Naik, Wes Streeting, NUS President, said: “NUS is pleased that the Government has listened to our calls for a student voice to be included on this panel. It is vitally important that this member is not sidetracked by business and university interests.”
Naik will be joined on the panel by; Peter Sands, Chief Executive of Standard Chartered PLC; Julia King, former Principal of Engineering at Imperial College and now Vice-Chancellor of Aston University; Professor David Eastwood, Former Chief Executive of the Higher Education Funding Council for England and now Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birmingham; Diane Coyle, BBC Trustee and visiting professor at the University of Manchester; Sir Michael Barber, head of McKinsey’s Global Education Practice.
The review is expected to take into account the goal of widening participation, affordability and the desirability of a simplification of the student support system.
Mandelson added: “Variable tuition fees provide institutions with a secure income stream worth £1.3bn, helping to sustain the long-term financial health and viability of the sector. Since they were introduced student numbers have continued to rise, along with the numbers coming from lower-income backgrounds.”
However, NUS were less convinced, saying that there is a “real danger” that the review could leave some students “priced out of more prestigious universities”.
“This would be a disaster for UK higher education and must not be allowed to happen,” Streeting added.
The findings of the review will not be published until after the next general election.
Sally Hunt, UCU General Secretary, warned that the timing of the review mustn’t allow MP’s to avoid discussing issues around student funding.
“Despite the review’s timetable, all the parties must clearly state their fee policies to ensure that students and their parents can make an informed choice at the ballot box.
“Failure to do so will deny the general public a voice on the debate on the future of university funding. The review needs to be allowed to be properly conducted with the relevant voices, particular those of academics and students, heard on the core group.”
Stephen Williams, Liberal Democrat university spokesman, said: “This review is nothing but a conspiracy between Labour and the Tories designed to keep plans to hike up tuition fees off the agenda until after the general election.”
