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Tagged / white working class boys

October 19, 2020

HE Policy Update for the w/e 16th October 2020

Business Engagement, COVID-19, EU, Impact, Industry collaboration, international, parliament, policy, Public engagement, Research news, Student Engagement jforster

A big week for pandemic news as more restrictions bite across the country. The Secretary of State is getting tetchy and the Department for Education and the OfS are both going back on recent pledges to reduce bureaucracy, as they add new information requirements. Meanwhile if you missed it, Jane wrote last week for the 10^th anniversary of the Lighthouse Policy Group on what policy people actually do and why.

Graduates preparation for work

The DfE published the Employer Skills Survey 2019. Employers stated 78% of graduates were well prepared for work during their first job. The media has picked up on a slight drop in perception (80% in 2016; 81% in 2014). Research Professional cover the survey release in Graduates ‘less prepared for work’ than four years ago. The article also highlights that:

Staff working at the employers who were surveyed were given less training than in previous years
Fewer employers had vacancies than in 2017, but the number of hard-to-fill vacancies had increased. “This suggests skills problems when recruiting are persisting [and] indeed, given the lower vacancy numbers, becoming more ‘concentrated’,” the survey said.
The government recently revealed plans to encourage more school leavers to take vocational courses, saying there were “too many graduates with degrees that don’t get them the jobs that they want”, and too many skills shortages in important occupations. Social media followers will likely have spotted the backlash at the Fatima cyber advert this week (the BBC cover how the Culture Secretary stated it was crass and immediately removed to be replaced by a picture of a baker – so the 4 universities offering foundation degrees in baking technology might be quivering under their chef’s hats right now).

Joe Marshall, Chief Executive of the National Centre for Universities and Business, said the figures showed that employers were “consistently reporting that graduates are very well or well prepared for work” and that “should be commended”. However, he stressed that it was “vital that employers and universities collaborate” to increase positive feedback from employers in future years. “The labour market is fast moving, now more than ever. It’s only through working together and universities understanding employers’ current and future skill needs that we can best prepare graduates for the world of work.”

On a similar theme the Sustainability Exchange published Future Graduate Skills: A Scoping Study – Executive Summary which aims to bring further understanding to the area of changing graduate requirements, graduate skills gaps, and sustainability skills. While it primarily focusses on sustainability there are familiar themes for graduate employment. Here are the most relevant summary recommendations (for more detail access the links on the left hand side of this screen).

Students

Undertake extra-curricular activities during your time at university, and make a note of the projects this involves, the responsibilities you take on, and the skills you have learned, as this will be valuable when you come to apply for work.
Be proactive in seeking out opportunities for real-world work experience alongside academic study

Universities

All degree courses should involve at least 2 weeks (or 1 day per week for 1 semester) of work experience or a placement of some kind to enable students to develop real-world understanding of the professional or business workplace. This does not have to be in the sector related to their degree discipline, as the focus is on developing students’ experience of practical realities alongside academic theory.
All courses must equip students with the cross-cutting skills necessary for addressing sustainability challenges, such as critical thinking, lateral thinking, and systems thinking. Interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary learning and problem solving are valuable ways to get students out of their disciplinary silos and to start understanding the interconnectivity of systems.
Universities as businesses have a responsibility to provide their staff (both office staff and teaching staff) with training on sustainability. This includes sustainability theory, practical applications of sustainability to different sectors, how it relates to their discipline, and how sustainability can be incorporated into their modules and teaching material

Business

Businesses should be more proactive in contacting universities to offer work placement opportunities, guest lectures, and information on what exactly they are looking for in the graduates that they hire.

Research

UKRI & the OfS have two new short videos on postgraduate researcher mental health and the importance of the role of the supervisor. They follow on from the OfS and Vitae report we mentioned in a previous policy update.

Size isn’t everything Research Fundermentals blogged highlighting that Although larger universities get the majority of research funding, their success rates are no better than that of smaller ones. What makes the difference is the culture and expectations at each.

There’s a nice scatterplot which shows that almost all UK institutions fit a very clear ‘funnel’, and that those with most of the grants don’t necessarily have a higher success rate than those with very few…the amount of their UKRI funding is solely down to the fact that these universities put in more applications. It should follow, then, that smaller universities just need to apply more, and their income would significantly increase. This is true up to a point. But realistically there are five major factors that stop them doing so. Culture, training, confidence, time and necessity all impact. Read more here. The fact that success rates for the smaller universities are as good as the best in class shows that a lack of talent is not what is stopping smaller institutions from getting more funding, everything else is.

Less Research Time Research Professional discuss the drop in time spend doing research since the pandemic gripped the nation:

40% of researchers reported a decrease (early career researchers were most likely to report the drop)
Teaching load and an increase in caring responsibilities were noted as they key factors leading to a drop of research time
Other issues: research or publications being delayed; future funding opportunities decreased
Half of researchers surveyed have undertaken research in new directions e.g. Covid related work
Medical researchers who are not working on Covid-19 research were frustrated and felt their work was perceived as lower priority for funding.
Respondents made a number of suggestions to improve the situation, including improving access to facilities; encouraging collaboration among research groups; granting extensions to projects and funding; and making concessions for any reduction in research quality.

Impact The Universities Policy Engagement Network has a new blog – Equality of voice in policy impact: seizing the pandemic moment.

Excerpts:

…one key area where the pandemic presents a chance to improve on the past is that of diversity of voice – the question of which experts get policy makers’ attention. And this, in my view, is an area that goes to the very heart of what we are attempting to do with policy impact – because we can’t claim to be improving the basis of decisions if the expertise we contribute does not reflect the breadth of expertise that exists.
One line of inequality stands out as potentially ‘having its moment’: the long-acknowledged need to broaden out beyond the ‘golden triangle’ of Cambridge, Oxford and London to tap into the deep wells of knowledge that exist elsewhere. As activity shifted online in the wake of Covid-19, many an academic from further afield has found new opportunities to speak directly to decision makers in ways previously limited to those based a short hop from the corridors of power. Finding time in busy people’s diaries has proven somewhat easier when the ask is simply to dial into a Zoom meeting. And it turns out that when in enforced isolation, policy makers are as receptive as anyone to something approximating face to face contact.
Things will, at some point, shift back again – but both researchers and policy makers are now far more comfortable than before with virtual engagement. So there’s good reason to think that geography will be less of a factor in who gets heard in future.
…virtual engagement favours the tech-savvy young researcher already active on social media, so arguably this is a good moment to address the relatively low profile of early career researchers. But in a high-stakes world, are policy makers willing to take a chance on as-yet-unproven experts? More importantly, in a largely online world is it feasible for younger researchers to develop the networks and social capital on which many a senior academic’s public profile has been built?

Future Leadership Fellows Wonkhe tell us – Speaking at the Future Leaders Conference science minister Amanda Solloway announced the latest wave of Future Leadership Fellows, who together will receive £109m in government funding in support of their work on major scientific problems, such as cancer treatment, space travel, and emissions reduction. The funding comes as part of UKRI’s flagship Future Leadership Fellowship scheme, on whose website you can find the full list of fellows.

Science Minister Amanda Solloway said: We are committed to building back better through research and innovation, and supporting our science superstars in every corner of the UK. By backing these inspirational Future Leaders Fellows, we will ensure that their brilliant ideas can be transferred straight from the lab into vital everyday products and services that will help to change all our lives for the better.

ECR Forum Wonkhe report that UKRI has announced a pilot of a new Early Careers Researcher’s Forum, to be launched later this year. The forum will seek to recruit 400 early career researchers to share their insight with UKRI on the issues that matter to them.

Event The Institute for Policy & Engagement is running an event on how to achieve policy impact through digital means. The workshop will explore the “New Normal” and what this has meant for researchers and policy impact professionals. Many have had to change their approach to connecting with policy makers. This session will investigate new ways to engage and achieve policy impact in this context.

A Covid Christmas

The OfS are planning to re-survey students on their opinion of teaching and learning to see if anything has changed since their last poll which was compiled at the peak of lockdown. Here’s the results from the last poll.

OfS say:

With the rapid changes in course delivery as a result of public health advice, we are actively seeking assurances from individual universities and colleges about the quality of their online and blended offers, and that the course will be delivered as promised during the current academic year even if changes are required for public health reasons. Indeed, while online teaching is of course different to face-to-face teaching, many universities and colleges have developed innovative and good quality digital provision for their students. Where we believe universities and colleges are not delivering on this, we can investigate and take action if the quality of courses falls below our minimum requirements.

Is it just Sarah, or does deliver the course as promised but change it to adapt to emerging public health advice seem a little oxymoronic?

Wonkhe report the latest speculation on the measures surrounding students returning home for Christmas: English universities could be asked to lock down for the final two weeks of term to make it possible for students safely to return home for Christmas, according to Richard Adams and Sally Weale at the Guardian. Reportedly, “early stage” plans would involve teaching delivered fully online while students remained on or near campus in term-time accommodation. The plans have yet to be endorsed by Universities UK or any other representative body for universities, and it’s not clear at this stage whether the Westminster government is making any plans to manage a further student migration event in January. There’s also coverage in the BBC, the Times, the Guardian, the Independent, i News, and the Mail.

Meanwhile iNews state switching to 100% online teaching two weeks before the end of term is too late to halt the spread of the virus. And the Telegraph consider an alternative ‘testing blitz’ with negative results the trigger to travel home.

Here’s a set of pandemic related Parliamentary Questions:

Ensuring universities remain operational throughout the pandemic
Assessment of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on universities
Whether the location of residential university students who test positive for COVID-19 is recorded in national statistics according to (1) their GP’s address or (2) their university address.
Detaining students who have not tested C-19 positive in halls of residence and definition of a student household
Limiting the spread of C-19 on university campus
Students with specialist medical conditions that are isolating
Students safely heading home for Christmas
Publishing data on students living in campus accommodation with C-19
With reference to the minutes of the fifty-fifth meeting of SAGE on covid-19 on 3 September 2020, if the Government has developed a national strategy defining key principles for additional covid-19 testing in universities.
Funding grants during the second stage of the university covid-19 research support package that was announced in June 2020
Support for universities implementing their own testing measures
Several longer exchanges through Education Oral Questions on:
- safe teaching and services within universities during the pandemic.
- Access to digital and online learning, the Christmas guidance, numbers with C-19 at universities and institutions providing data on numbers
- Higher non-completion rates
- OfS (it is buried within the Topical Questions link so I’ll include the exchange below):

Q – Andrew Griffith: The purpose of the Office for Students is that “every student has a fulfilling experience of higher education”. In the light of the current difficulties faced by undergraduates, will the Secretary of State commit to a post-covid review of the OfS?

A – Gavin Williamson: I will work closely with the OfS to ensure that it is working with universities and that universities are delivering what students expect and require for their studies. We will always work closely with all government organisations to deliver the very best for students and ensure that universities deliver on students’ behalf.

Assessment of HE institution insolvency

Students & Mental Health

Mental health training for university lecturers
Government support for student wellbeing; and supporting universities to provide more mental health and wellbeing support to students during the Coronavirus.
Assessing the long term impact of lockdown on students’ mental health

Student Covid complaints: The higher education ombudsbody for England and Wales is testing “special processes” that would allow it to more quickly process complaints from large numbers of dissatisfied students. Research Professional have the scoop here.

Student Sport: Wonkhe report on student sport exemptions: Indoor student sport at universities is exempt from simplified restrictions within all of the new English coronavirus alert levels, according to an updated Sport England FAQ. It says that student sport can take place in groups larger than six on the basis that such activity is covered by the exemption allowing activities “for the purpose of education and training” – although organisers should consider how best to minimise exposure by avoiding unnecessary travel and mixing with teams from other institutions.

Admissions – Exams

GCSE, AS and A level exams will go ahead in 2021 but start 3 weeks later than usual (on 7 June). Results days are Tuesday 24 August for A and AS levels and Friday 27 August for GCSEs so students will start the following academic year as normal. Gavin Williamson, SoS Education, stated:

Fairness to pupils is my priority, and will continue to be at the forefront of every decision we take in the lead up to exams next summer. Exams are the fairest way of judging a student’s performance so they will go ahead, underpinned by contingency measures developed in partnership with the sector.
Students have experienced considerable disruption and it’s right we give them, and their teachers, the certainty that exams will go ahead and more time to prepare.

The Government’s press release also stated:

Given rising case numbers and the battle to suppress the virus, it is also right that there is consideration of the range of scenarios which might impact students’ ability to sit exams and develop contingency plans. More detail on this to be published later in the year but work with Ofsted on circumstances has begun.
The government is also confirming today that no further subject-level changes to exams and assessments will be made for GCSEs, AS and A levels… It is expected that for the majority of vocational and technical qualifications that are taken alongside or instead of GCSEs, AS and A levels, awarding organisations will look to align timetables with 2021 exams.

Research Professional (RP) state that University leaders have demanded more details on how they should cope with a three-week delay to A-level exams in 2021. The also report that UUK have said: Universities will work to implement the new timetable. However, we continue to seek further details from the UK government and Ofqual—in particular on how the process will ensure fairness in the 2021 grades. RP also digest the wider and interwoven elements surrounding the announcement here and inform that Daniel Zeichner, Labour MP and co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Universities, stated: I suspect that most universities will be reluctant to alter their term dates until we are much clearer about the availability of vaccines and the need to maintain virtual teaching. RP also asked Zeichner if he was surprised that the education secretary had seemingly made it through the summer’s chaos relatively unscathed. “While many will be surprised that Williamson is still in post, this is not a government that takes responsibility,” he said. “My guess is that most ministers will stay in place to take the flak until next year.”

Colleagues interested in this topic may enjoy this House of Commons debate on Exams: Covid-19.

Institutes of Technology

The Government announced the funding competition for the next wave of Institutes of Technology (IoT) which are business and educational collaborations (FE and HE) aiming to deliver the higher technical knowledge and develop the workplace skills to fit with the country’s industry needs. The Government has committed £120 million so there is an IoT in every area of the country, as part of their levelling up agenda. As yet Dorset does not have an IoT.

IoTs aim to:

Significantly increase the number of learners with higher technical skills which are crucial to national, regional and local productivity growth;
Attract a wide range of learners to maximise the social as well as the economic impact of this new type of institution;
Improve the occupational competency of learners to meet the needs of employers now and in the future.

IoT’s are intended to address gaps in manufacturing, engineering and transport which currently have an acute shortage of technician level STEM skills and to boost workforce numbers in artificial intelligence, data and innovative technologies. You can read more on IoTs here.

Meanwhile Gordon Marsden (previous shadow FE &HE Minister) stated that IoTs risked becoming “skills white elephants” and “the follies of mandarins and ministers”…Simply building and opening new IoTs won’t do the business—in fact, current stats are showing that those already opened are struggling for numbers.

Anti-Semitism

The Government’s ambition for all HE institutions to adopt the IHRA antisemitism definition continued to inspire comment this week. A Jewish academic, Geoffrey Alderman, writes in Jewish News on the drawbacks of the definition (it is worth a read) and concludes: Like the proverbial curate’s egg, the IHRA definition is good in parts. But it is very much a work in progress. To compel universities to adopt it in its present form, on pain of financial penalties and other sanctions, seems to me a thoroughly bad idea.

At the end of last week SoS Gavin Williamson wrote to Vice Chancellors in what Wonkhe called a final written warning. The Minister’s letter states:

I have asked my officials to look at developing options to address this [universities not adopting the definition]…there remain too many disturbing incidents of antisemitism on campus, from both students and staff, and a lack of willingness by too many universities to confront this…I am frankly disappointed that the majority of higher education providers have not yet adopted the IHRA definition. I am surprised that some universities have actively chosen not to use this straightforward way to demonstrate clearly that they do not tolerate antisemitism. These providers are letting down all their staff and students, and, shamefully, their Jewish students in particular.
While many universities have rightly been quick over the summer to demonstrate their readiness to take action against other forms of racism, it is frankly disturbing that so many are dragging their feet on the matter of antisemitism. The repugnant belief that antisemitism is somehow a less serious, or more acceptable, form of racism has taken insidious hold in some parts of British society, and I am quite clear that universities must play their part in rooting out this attitude and demonstrating that antisemitism is abhorrent.
I believe sincerely that adopting the IHRA definition is morally the right thing to do.
I will consider going further to ensure that all providers are tackling antisemitism, with robust measures in place to address issues when they arise. I have asked my officials to explore how best to achieve this. I have asked my officials to consider options that include directing the OfS to impose a new regulatory condition of registration and suspending funding streams for universities at which antisemitic incidents occur and which have not signed up to the definition.
If I have not seen the overwhelming majority of institutions adopting the definition by Christmas then I will act.

The Board of Deputies for British Jews has applauded the Minister’s letter, stating: We welcome this intervention by Secretary of State for Education Gavin Williamson calling on universities which have failed to sign up to the IHRA definition of antisemitism to do so by the end of the year. His letter demonstrates the Government’s commitment to protecting Jewish students on campus. We have been calling on universities to adopt the international definition of antisemitism for several years. There is no excuse for them not to take this essential step. We hope that the Government will take a similarly muscular approach towards IHRA with social media companies in the package around the Online Harms Bill.

UUK have stated: We recommend universities do all they can to tackle antisemitism, including considering the IHRA definition, whilst also recognising their duty to promote freedom of speech within the law.

Research Professional say:

The likely outcome of all this will be that university managers see no alternative but to adopt the terms of the IHRA, potentially driving a further wedge between ‘the university’ and some of its staff and students. Division is the point of a culture war after all.
The cause of fighting antisemitism is too important to be treated in this way. It should not be a stick with which to beat the perceived recalcitrance of liberal universities.
It is unlikely that when universities are in the headlines for the effects of coronavirus among the student population, the issue of the IHRA definition will gain much momentum in the national press. The country, if not the secretary of state, has other priorities right now.

A focussed Research Professional article on anti-Semitism here.

Legal perspective Smita Jamdar, a Partner at legal firm Shakespeare Martineau contemplates whether the Minister would be acting within the law if he was to take action against universities who do not adopt the definition:

There is no legal obligation on universities to adopt the definition. The Secretary of State’s recent letter to Vice Chancellors exhorting them to adopt the definition makes no claim to the contrary; instead it explicitly asserts that adopting the definition is in the view of the Secretary of State morally the right thing to do. He goes on, however, to explain that he is asking officials to explore options for enforcing this moral obligation, including “directing” the OfS to impose a registration condition or suspending funding streams. There are obvious reasons why alarm bells should ring when politicians seek to enforce what they see as moral obligations through indirect legal routes such as this.
Does the Secretary of State have the power to direct the OfS to impose a registration condition? Not as such, not directly…the Secretary of State can decide what weight to attach to institutional autonomy when deciding whether to guide the OfS towards a registration condition on adopting the definition. But, equally, the OfS has the discretion not to follow the Secretary of State’s guidance…The OfS might itself face challenges for breach of its public sector equality duty if it takes action to introduce a condition in relation to antisemitism, but not in relation to other forms of discrimination. Nevertheless, if the Secretary of State and the OfS address these issues in a reasonable way, a court is likely to defer to their judgment.
What about restricting access to funding streams? This is straight out of Trump’s playbook, who last year signed an executive order to require federal agencies to tie access to funding to a commitment by universities to ensuring freedom of speech… Restricting access to student loan funding would most likely require an ability to restrict what individual providers could charge by way of fees, perhaps using the model developed under the abortive student number controls that were introduced and then revoked earlier this year.
So, there are hurdles to overcome in introducing a registration condition or restricting access to funding, but they are not insurmountable.
Susan Lapworth, Director of Regulation at the Office for Students has helpfully pointed out that if the Secretary of State issues a formal direction (rather than guidance) the OfS must not merely have regard to it, it must follow it. A direction under the Higher Education and Research Act must be made through regulations.

There is lots more discussion and detail on the legal technicalities in Smita’s blog here.

Credit Transfer

Tony Strike (Sheffield University) writes for Research Professional on credit transfer drawing on his research surrounding the choice a student makes to change institution.

The students we surveyed and interviewed said that student mobility could help them remain in higher education if their personal circumstances changed—that is, it could help a student move to a provider more suited to their changed needs, preventing the student from being forced to drop out of higher education altogether. Students did not see it as an opportunity to trade up or to move around in higher education by acting as if they were shoppers in a market.
Almost two-thirds of the students surveyed said they were unsure about or disagreed with the principle that improving student mobility would improve the quality and value of their degree. Most students in focus groups expressed concerns about the quality of their course and its intellectual coherence if they engaged in mobility processes.
Any switching scheme introduced with a narrative only about student choice would therefore have imposed a view on students that most did not hold. The students in the study did, however, think transfer should be possible and frictionless when and if they needed it, and when other stresses driving the need to move would mean any artificial barriers were likely to be keenly felt.
But the students who wanted to move, or who could conceive circumstances in which they would have to move, feared it would be difficult and would devalue their degree and make them look unreliable…Their teachers, equally, had concerns about the intellectual integrity of a degree ‘broken’ across locations.
Students nevertheless said that there was a need for clearer and more transparent processes, information, advice and guidance on student mobility in higher education providers, and higher education as a whole, which they perceived would help students in need and tackle any stigma associated with transferring.
There did not appear to be significant demand for student mobility that remained unmet because of existing practices…However, the minority who expressed a desire to withdraw or transfer said they would benefit from changes that made student mobility a more openly recognised practice.

Last week Jo Johnson (previous HE minister who attempted to push student credit and transferring institutions) stated he’d received ‘push back’ from some HE institutions on the credit transfer plans. The media pointed the finger at the Russell Group which prompted Tony’s to write the article. The article is clear it is against the politicisation of the use of student credit transfer and focussed on supporting students rather than a marketisation strategy. He states: If students and universities did push back against the idea of credit transfer then it was not against credit transfer itself but against the attempted politicisation, rather than amelioriation, of a mechanism already being used in the student interest.

International

Wonkhe report on the new UUK guidance – Managing risks in Internationalisation: Security related issues.

Universities UK has published new guidance for universities on how to safeguard against security risks while engaging in international collaboration The advice is split into four key areas: protecting a university’s reputation and values, its people, its campus, and its partnerships.
Among its recommendations, the advice suggests that Chatham House rules could be introduced to online seminars, to allow international students to submit work anonymously, without fear of interference from their government. It’s also recommended that university governing bodies assess annually the effectiveness of measures put in place to manage risks associated with internationalisation. The Times reports on the guidance and also publishes an editorial on the need for universities to resist the influence of China.

Brexit: Wonkhe report that the DfE has also published a new compilation of briefings and guidance for higher education providers to prepare for the end of the Brexit transition period on 31 December 2020.

PQs:

Potential effect of the end of the transition period on FE & HE (Answer: The Government are thinking about it.)
Continuation of Erasmus, and alternative to Erasmus.

Access & Participation

NEON (and ESRC) have published The Future of Student Outcomes featuring case studies from institutional projects which address gaps in degree attainment and how to improve undergraduate degree outcomes. The press release calls on the Government to shift attention away from assessing the value of courses and toward supporting those groups who are more likely not to achieve good degrees and graduate jobs…The report argues that while the Prime Minister and the government is right to highlight challenges associated with graduate unemployment/under-employment and low earnings addressing these issues by restricting entry to certain course[s], [or] to higher education overall is a one club approach to a multi-faceted problem.

Dr Graeme Atherton, NEON Director, states:

As this report shows improving student outcomes means concentrating on which students need support, understanding their needs and then making the necessary changes in policy and practice to make a real difference. Vague attacks on course quality, or forcing young people away from higher education will not help the students who really need to achieve their full potential.

The report calls for a student-focussed approach to improving outcome, including:

embedding a value-added approach to teaching learners from BAME and lower socio-economic groups that recognizes their strengths and culture
addressing the heavy psychological burden of debt on students,
investing in better financial and non-financial support for post-graduate students
a national work experience framework for students that goes beyond the present socially skewed, patchwork approach based on unpaid internships.

Graeme Atherton also blogs for Wonkhe to explain the basics.

Research Professional also cover the story here. Neon also explored how the “long shadow” of student loans affected outcomes for disadvantaged students and how precarious academic contracts constrain widening participation work.

Education Committee The Education Committee held two sessions on left-behind white pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds with a number of notable HE figures giving evidence. You can read a summary of the session prepared by Dods here or access the full session. The BBC also cover it here. Below we cover a Parliamentary discussion on the Equality Act which also mentions white working class boys.

Disability A new Wonkhe blog on how few disabled graduates are aware of the financial support available to them for access to work. Only 0.76% of disabled people in the workforce are applying for Access to Work funding.

Parliamentary Questions

Ensuring that the Lifetime Skills Guarantee is accessible to those with disabilities.
The adequacy of careers advice in secondary education, particularly advice on the social mobility of pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds.
What steps the Government has taken to close the attainment gap for (1) disabled children, and (2) children from (a) disadvantaged, and (b) BAME, communities.
Care leavers access to digital devices and the internet; and the same answer was given to what plans they have to meet with organisations which work with care leavers to discuss access to digital devices and the internet.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the report by the Social Mobility Commission The long shadow of deprivation, published on 15 September. (This has an extended debate style answer because it is a response to an oral question within the Lords.)

Disadvantage, discrimination and the Equality Act

Ben Bradley MP introduced a discussion into the Commons on the Equality Act 2010: Children from Disadvantaged Backgrounds. He stated:

Rather than the Equality Act 2010 existing to prevent discrimination, an awful lot of people in influential positions—even in our national institutions—seem to be under the impression that the Act and its provisions on positive action give them the right to actively discriminate in favour of certain groups. Discrimination on the basis of those characteristics is, of course, illegal, whether it has “positive” as a prefix or not, but it seems commonplace. For example, there are countless scholarships and bursaries for higher levels of study offered only to BAME students. That is not positive action, I am afraid; that is discrimination. There is a difference. Encouraging under-represented BAME students to apply for scholarships, yes; excluding all white students from a scholarship on the basis of their race should be a no. That is the very definition of discrimination, and it is even worse when, without the lens of identity politics, it is actually the disadvantaged white children who struggle most to access higher education, not BAME children. That positive discrimination favours a group that already does better statistically, and at the expense of the most under-represented. But as I have said, that is commonplace. The Act, or at least its interpretation and implementation, is fundamentally flawed.
According to research by the writer and commentator Douglas Murray, the Act has, in the main, tended to support and promote those who are already closest to their destination, rather than digging down into supporting those in genuine need, perhaps due to the lack of provision around socioeconomic circumstances… It seems clear that socioeconomic status or social class is, in fact, the greatest indicator of life chances, but that is not a protected characteristic nor is it enacted in section 1. I am sure that there is a reason. Geographical disadvantage was also raised.

The discussion moved onto white working-class boys:

In education at least, the constant false interpretation of the Act, which promotes positive action for BAME and female pupils, seems entirely backwards. Disadvantaged white boys are statistically faring the worst. They are under-represented at universities and in our public institutions, and their life chances are most limited because they are most likely to have no qualifications.
I am fed up to the back teeth with identity politics. I do not want to be stood here saying, “White kids this,” and, “White kids that.” I value all kids and their futures, and the support they get should be based on what they need, not on the colour of their skin, their gender or any other grand narrative that we concoct to make ourselves feel better. Separating black and white, gay and straight, male and female in that way is combative and unhelpful, but it sometimes feels like I have to highlight white disadvantaged kids and their plight, because otherwise they do not seem to get a look in.
If we talk generally about disadvantage, the system and our legislation—this misinterpretation of the Equality Act—always seem to bring the discussion back around to the BAME, female and other misinterpretations that we have enshrined in law. If we do not say “white kids”, the popular narrative and the system seem to leave them behind—and have done so in many cases—in favour of a fundamentally flawed diversity agenda, which is hugely frustrating and, in many ways, wrong.
…will the Government review the implications of amending the Act to remove or change any damaging positive action elements that go way beyond preventing discrimination and, due to the constant misinterpretation of those who claim ownership of it, appear in practice to condone positive discrimination to the exclusion of some of our country’s poorest people?

The Minister responded: The Equality Act provides protection to all children, as well as to adults. We must get away from the perception that protected characteristics in the Act are there only to protect certain groups and exclude others. For example, a white boy at school is covered by the Act in the same way, and to the same extent, as his BAME classmates or schoolgirls of any race. If a white boy from a disadvantaged background feels he has been treated less fairly in educational work compared with his female or BAME peers, he has a means of redress available to him, initially through informal routes, but ultimately at a tribunal if it is felt to be necessary.

And dismissed Ben’s claims of discrimination:

The Act enables positive action to help to ensure that all groups of society are fairly represented, but that is not the same as positive discrimination, where one group might be unfairly favoured over another. Positive action is designed to enable the promotion of a level playing field. An example of positive action is when an employer wants to address the fact that it does not have any disabled apprentices; the employer can favour the recruitment of a disabled applicant over a non-disabled one, provided that their applications are broadly of equal merit. That is positive action.
Positive action is designed to enable opportunities to be given, as opposed to positive discrimination, which is unlawful. That is why it is so important that the guidance is clear on the subject. We need to promote the level playing field and enable levelling up, and not encourage behaviour that could constitute levelling down.
We need to avoid taking a tick-box approach…We want to avoid such distractions and concentrate on real help.

On addressing socio-economic status through the Equality Act:

Social status is not one of the characteristics protected by the Act, and we need to be careful not to use it as a vehicle for social engineering rather than as a shield against discrimination. A duty of that kind would more likely result in public bodies trying to retrofit a levelling-down agenda, rather than offering better opportunities for all disadvantaged groups and levelling up.
We understand, however, that pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds, including boys, may face greater challenges at every stage of education. We are committed to addressing those challenges, levelling up education standards and improving outcomes. [Through early years intervention, the Opportunity Areas and Virtual Heads for excluded and looked after children.]

This Times piece follows similar themes to the Commons discussion.

PQs

Within this week’s parliamentary questions are some we’ve mentioned previously but the response was delayed and they’ve only now been answered:

Government not planning to publish minutes/discussion from HE Taskforce
Assessing if there is merit in making financial support available to students wishing to complete a second undergraduate degree
Affordability of e-books
Part time study, the Government’s flexible 4 year funding (and consultation on introducing the lifelong loan entitlement & legislating for it)
The accessibility of HE for part-time mature students

Inquiries and Consultations

Click here to view the updated inquiries and consultation tracker. Email us on policy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you’d like to contribute to any of the current consultations.

Other news

Violence & Abuse: Research Professional report on UUK’s guidance on supporting staff and students experiencing domestic violence and online abuse during the C-19 pandemic. UUK said universities’ primary focus should continue to be on prevention, which should include policies on reporting domestic violence and abuse, and said universities should highlight their support services online.

Student suicides: Wonkhe report that The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has updated its annual count of deaths by suicide of full-time students in England and Wales. 182 were recorded, which represents a ten year high. Almost 70 per cent were males.

NSS: The Office for Students had published updates to National Student Survey results from 2019 and 2020, including data amendments and accounts for provider mergers since initial publication.

State of the Nation: The DfE released its second annual ‘State of the Nation’ report on children and young people’s wellbeing. Dods summarise:

This year’s report is of particular note, as it captures the effects of the pandemic on young people’s mental and physical wellbeing. Here are some top-line findings:

Subjective wellbeing may have decreased, with older young people reporting increases in anxiety
Some groups of children and young people have had lower personal wellbeing than others (e.g. SEND, BAME, working-class students)
Children and young people have been happy with their health, although the primary worry has been COVID-19 and the potential impact on their loved ones
Children are generally as happy as usual with their view of the future, though the majority of older young people are worried
Most children and young people up to 17-years-old remain happy with relationships with friends – a third to a half of primary children had regular contact with friends, and most secondary age children reported the same
Just under half of older young people reported the pandemic affecting their relationships
Older young people have seen impacts to their own employment, and some evidence suggests that the number of low-income households has increased recently, effecting children as well
Average happiness with how they get to use their time remains high, with most being fairly physically active throughout April to July
Most are happy with their home setting, but some children and young people’s homes are not ‘decent’ and some have spent more time in such homes during the pandemic

You can find the DfE press release here, and the full ‘State of the Nation’ report here.

Education: The Institute for Public Policy Research has published a report on the future of education after Covid-19

Grade inflation: Wonkhe report on a recent paper which takes a detailed and critical data-informed look at the phenomenon of grade inflation and argues for a more nuanced understanding of the rise in Firsts. They suggest that “unexplained firsts” should always point to a need for further research rather than punitive measures, and that the deficit model of “grade inflation” is obscuring a number of phenomena. The rise in attainment appears to be a global issue – and the authors call for the development of “assessment literacy” as a first step towards deescalating the issue. There’s a blog too if you’d prefer the shorter version.

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February 10, 2020

HE Policy Update for the w/e 7th February 2020

EU, Global engagement, international, policy, Research news, Student Engagement jforster

With a reshuffle on the horizon this week, last week was Apprenticeships Week and Children’s Mental Health Week.

Parliamentary News

Cabinet Reshuffle – we are expecting a ministerial reshuffle to take place before Parliament enters recess at the end of next week. Politico speculates about who may be in and out of favour.

Brexit – Dods have produced an interesting briefing on the Brexit transition phase exploring the negotiating give and take and explaining what the key terms like ‘level playing field’ may translate as within the Withdrawal Agreement.

Contract Cheating – Lord Storey continues his campaign to end contract cheating by introducing the HE Cheating Services Prohibition Bill as a private members bill (PMB). As you’ll recall from previous policy updates PMB’s rarely succeed, however, they can raise visibility of the issue even when they fail. The Committee Stage within the House of Lords is next.

Private Member’s Bills – There’s no news on the Lord Holmes’ Unpaid Work Experience Prohibition Bill yet, we’re still waiting for the second reading and vote. However, Alex Cunningham, a Labour MP has also introduced a similar Bill entitled Unpaid Work Experience (Prohibition No. 2) through his win on the Commons’ PMB ballot. Alex’s bill (to prohibit unpaid work experience exceeding four weeks) is due to be read a second time on 27 March and will need to win the vote to continue passage through Parliament. Two very similar PMB’s progressing at the same time is an interesting Parliamentary twist that we’ll be watching closely. Unfortunately Alex’s PMB is number 14 in the queue so it may not ever progress due to lack of parliamentary session time.

The MP’s winning the Common’s PMB vote have declared the topics their intended legislation will cover. There is little of direct interest for the HE sector beside Alex’s unpaid work experience Bill.

(Welfare of Children) PMB aims to impose duties on certain education and training providers in relation to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children. Mike Amesbury’s PMB (first to be debated) aims to pick up the provision for guidance to schools about the cost aspects of school uniform policies. You’ll remember mention of this floated around Parliamentary debate several times during the last Parliament, gaining traction but not progressing into law or regulation.

Select Committees

Several of the new Education Select Committee members have been revealed by Tes. Whips from Labour and Conservatives held elections for Committee members last night, but the result have not officially been announced. Tes has been told, however, that new members from the Conservative side are all newly-elected MPs and include a former secondary teacher and a former chair of a social mobility charity. They are understood to be:

David Johnston (Con, Wantage)
David Simmonds (Con, Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner)
Tom Hunt (Con, Ipswich)
Christian Wakeford (Con, Bury South)
Jonathan Gullis (Con, Stoke-on-Trent North)

From the Labour side, the following members are understood to be elected to the Committee:

Apsana Begum (Lab, Poplar and Limehouse)
Fleur Anderson (Lab, Putney)
Returning – Lucy Powell (Lab, Manchester Central)
Returning – Ian Mearns (Lab, Gateshead)

Education Committee Members’ Priorities

Jonathan Gullis who is a teacher (and had to return to work at his Birmingham secondary school on the day after the general election) has set out his priorities as reducing the sizes of large multi-academy trusts to ”give power back to schools” as well as investigating the effectiveness of alternative provision and the possibility of introducing new grammar schools into deprived areas. He said: “There are a number of things to look at to be quite frank. Obviously the government has pledged a £14 billion injection into the education system which is sorely needed – and my job, along with my fellow committee members, will be to make sure this ends up in the hands of headteachers and that the money is being spent on pupils”.

David Johnston is a former chair of the Social Mobility Foundation charity. He said: “I’ll be looking at whether we are improving life chances for the most disadvantaged pupils. We also need to get the best teachers into the schools that find it difficult to attract teachers.”

Tom Hunt intends to focus on special educational needs as he has personal experience of both dyslexia and dyspraxia. He said: “I really struggled at school but I was really fortunate I got the support I needed, so I turned it around and did pretty well academically, but I’m acutely aware that a lot of pupils don’t get the support they need so that’s what I’m most passionate about.”

Labour Leadership Contest – The hustings continued for the leadership candidates all through this week.

PMQs

Local MP Michael Tomlinson (Mid Dorset and North Poole) featured in Prime Minister’s Questions this week when he asked whether the PM would prioritise family hubs and ensure that they were linked to Early Years Strategy, the Troubled Families Programme, and children’s’ services reform. The PM said £165 million had been allocated to extend the Troubled Families Programme this year.

National Apprenticeship Week

It is National Apprenticeship Week and there has been a plethora of employers and organisations celebrating apprenticeships amongst discussions of future changes and sharing information to ensure more potential students consider apprenticeships as an alternative to university.

Hitting the headlines was the DfE survey with Mumsnet which set out to understand parents’ preconceptions on apprenticeships. They found:

63% of parents equated an apprenticeship with menial tasks believing their child would spend time making the tea (also seen as unchallenging and low quality)
One third of parents thought apprenticeships were mainly for manual trades
45% hadn’t heard of degree apprenticeships
45% felt a university degree was more valued by employers than an apprenticeship
67% felt apprenticeships were inclusive and were for everyone regardless of background or age
49% didn’t feel they knew enough about apprenticeships to talk to their children about it as an option

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson comments on the survey:

This research shows that outdated views are holding young people back from pursuing their dream career. Every parent wants the best for their children and when they ask you for advice about their futures, it’s incredibly daunting. But I know that when I’m asked for help by my children I will absolutely encourage them to consider an apprenticeship. So as we celebrate the life changing potential of apprenticeships I would urge all parents to do the same and look beyond stereotypes and embrace every opportunity

Here is the Mumsnet press release on the survey. Mumsnet Founder Justine Roberts said:

The government has transformed apprenticeships, working closely with top employers like BT, BAE Systems and Greene King to create more high-quality apprenticeship opportunities so that apprentices gain the skills they need to secure a great job and that provide industry with the workforce they need now and in the future.
Apprenticeships offer the chance to kick start a well-paid career in a wide range of exciting professions such as cyber security and aerospace engineering with options to train right up to degree level. There are many positive benefits apprenticeships are bringing to individuals and workplaces across the country. Research has highlighted that:
The vast majority of apprentices agreed that their career prospects had improved since starting their apprenticeship – 85% of Level 2 and 3 apprentices and 83% of higher (Level 4 plus) apprentices
On average, completing a Level 2 apprenticeship boosts earnings by 11%, and a level 3 apprenticeship by 16%
Apprentices who complete a higher level apprenticeship could earn £150,000 more on average over their lifetime compared to those with Level 3 vocational qualification
Of those who completed an apprenticeship, 90% secured a job or went on to further learning, with 88% in sustained employment
Employers also report benefits too, with 86% saying apprentices developed skills relevant to their organisation and 78% reported improved productivity

Other sources

Wonkhe report that in the TES Shadow HE and FE minister Emma Hardy writes about the difficulties faced by SMEs in accessing funding for apprenticeships.
HEPI has a blog on apprenticeships – what they are and whether higher education should have a role in delivering them.
The National Centre for Universities and Business runs a blog that asks whether degree apprenticeships can really meet all that is promised on issues like social mobility and closing the skills gap.

Part Time Students

HEPI have published Unheard: the voices of part-time adult learners aiming to prompt a re-think of how mature part time students are engaged and attracted to degree level study. There has been a 61% drop in part time students since 2010. Author, Dr John Butcher from the Open University, said:

Official policies like the National Student Survey and widening participation initiatives are part of the problem because they tend to play down or even ignore part-time learners.
Part-time students are disproportionately likely to come from parts of society traditionally under-represented in higher education. Ministerial statements about there being a record numbers of [disadvantaged] students ignore part-time learners. When they are included, a big drop in the number of students from disadvantaged backgrounds is revealed.
A new approach is overdue, especially in England which lags behind other parts of the UK in protecting part-time education. Otherwise, part-time students will continue to be peripheral, feeling like tourists passing through higher education but knowing they do not really belong.

Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI, said: …people who want, or need, to study part-time have less choice than they did. The removal of some public funding in 2008, the tripling of tuition fees in 2012 and the withdrawal of some courses have had a terrible combined impact.

Excerpts from the paper:

The crisis engulfing part-time adult learners in England points to an impoverished future in which higher education morphs into a purely full-time experience for 18-year olds fortunate enough to be born in the right place, attend the right school and gain the right A-Level grades. No more ‘second-chance’ transformations, no more learn-while-you-earn, no more enriching learning with contributions from adults who can bring different life experiences. Flexible opportunities for those disadvantaged individuals who cannot study full-time may all but vanish.
My fear is that political infatuation with the employability discourse around advanced skills for adults, as well as a series of muddled protestations about social mobility, have concealed the part-time issue. The key stakeholders who could amend policies and drive strategies to energise part-time learning in higher education are instead busily engaged in addressing other challenges, such as: [TEF, National Student Survey, APP/WP initiatives, achieving sufficient student recruitment]
Policymakers should recognise part-time higher education is an optional world in which complex individual student needs trump the homogeneity of institutional systems. Part time students can feel peripheral, like tourists visiting higher education but who know they do not really belong.

Page 13 onwards explores the voices of mature part timers within these three themes:

What gets in the way? Life, money, inflexibility.
What do we want? Clarity, inclusivity and signposts.
What can we do? Integrate skills and feedback to enhance confidence.

And intersperses recommendations on elements universities can change to make part time learning more accessible and successful.

OfS

The OfS have released a new blog from a mature healthcare student describing the positive experience he had whilst studying radiography. The blog talks about gender balance within the healthcare sector and taking the leap from established career and family to return to study full time. The student describes the additional opportunities he engaged with including the Council of Deans Student Leadership Programme, working with the OfS, and as a Student Observer to the UK Council (radiography). The upbeat blog is quite the counterpoint to the HEPI publication which describes isolated part time students who never fully develop their sense of institutional belonging.

Further Education

The Government have announced a £24 million investment in FE to enable the sector to recruit, retain and develop high quality FE teachers, including those needed for the new T levels. This is part of the £400 million announced in August last year. It includes:

£11 million to provide bursaries and grants worth up to £26,000 to attract talented people to train to teach in FE, in priority subject areas such as STEM, English and SEND teaching.
A £10 million boost to expand the Government’s Taking Teaching Further programme, delivered in partnership with sector body the Education and Training Foundation (ETF), which sees industry professionals working in sectors such as engineering and computing to retrain as further education teachers. The scheme has already supported over 100 people to work in FE across the country so far. This additional funding will support up to 550 more people to train to teach a range of technical subjects in 2020.
£3 million for high-quality mentor training programmes to support FE teachers – including those just starting out in teaching – to develop and progress.

On the £400 million announced in August 2019 Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said:

As former FE students, the Chancellor and I both know first-hand how important the further education sector is so I’m really pleased that today that government is giving our sixth forms and colleges a major funding boost – the single biggest annual uplift since 2010.
This investment will make sure we can continue to develop world-class technical and vocational education to rival countries on the continent so we have a highly skilled and productive workforce for the future.

Specifically on the £24 million Gavin Williamson said:

Our ambitions for a world-beating technical education system can only be achieved if we have outstanding teachers who will inspire the next generation.
I’ve seen first-hand just how much brilliant work is already going on up and down the country. I want to thank the many thousands of further education teachers doing fantastic jobs and changing lives.
This investment is a clear signal of the government’s commitment to helping the FE sector to continue to recruit and retain excellent teachers who will help to unlock their students’ full potential.

The Government will also begin to collect FE workforce data every year from 2020/21to ensure they have robust information and a greater understanding of who makes up the FE sector.

On the same day City AM published The graduate premium is little more than a myth – invest in further education instead. The piece is exactly as the title describes. It argues for less investment in HE (particularly disdainful of the increase in the number of young people attending HE) and suggests that better funded FE provision would result in a ‘FE premium’ salary boost. Excerpt:

Why pay extra for something which is in excess supply? This is exactly how it has turned out. Many graduates end up in mundane, low-paying jobs. The Office for National Statistics shows that 31 per cent of graduates have more education than is required for the work they are doing.

Parliamentary Questions

Erasmus & International Students

Chris Skidmore answered ANOTHER question relating to Erasmus – no new news – poor Chris is probably reciting these same answers in his sleep now.

Lord Duncan of Springbank, answering on behalf of the Government, sidesteps responding to a question asking how much budget has been set aside for the Horizon Research Programme beyond 2020.

The House of Commons Library has published a briefing paper on The Erasmus Programme.
Key facts:

9,720UK HE students participated in the 2017 ‘call’ (application period) for study placements abroad through the Erasmus+ scheme.
In 2017/18, the most popular host countries for study placements were: Spain (2,220), France (2,049), Germany (1,302), Netherlands (812), and Italy (711).
The total value of all Erasmus+ projects funded in the UK has increased in each year from €112millionin the 2014 call to €145million in 2017.
The UK was the 8^thhighest participating country in the programme in 2017.
31,877 students came to the UK (all study and work placements) during the 2017 call.

There was also a parliamentary question on international students asking how many university places were allocated to non-British students.

Disadvantaged Attainment Gap

Q – Ben Bradley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support working class boys to close the attainment gap. [6162]

A – Nick Gibb:

Educational achievement is at the heart of this Government’s commitment to ensure no young person is left behind because of the place or circumstances of their birth. Due to our reforms, 86% of pupils attend a Good or Outstanding school compared with 66% in 2010.
‘Working class’ is not a description recognised or measured by the Department. We measure the outcomes of those pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds as defined by the benefit-related definition for ‘disadvantaged’. We recognise that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds – including those currently or formerly claiming free school meals and currently or formerly looked after – may face extra challenges in achieving their potential at school. We introduced the pupil premium in 2011 and have invested over £15 billion – and another £2.4 billion this year – so that schools have the resources to provide extra support for disadvantaged pupils of all abilities. White disadvantaged boys and girls constitute the largest group of eligible pupils and so benefit significantly from this extra support.
Against a background of rising standards, disadvantaged pupils are catching up with their peers. The attainment gap index shows that since 2011, the gap at the end of primary school has narrowed by 13% and the gap at the end of secondary school has narrowed by 9%. This indicates better prospects for a secure adult life for disadvantaged pupils. Our reforms, and the focus provided by the pupil premium, have supported this improvement.
The Department recognises there is more to do for disadvantaged pupils. Our ambition is to halve the number of children who finish Reception without the communication and reading skills they need to thrive. Our £72 million Opportunity Areas programme will focus resource on areas with low social mobility. We have also dedicated £24 million to Opportunity North East to address the specific challenges in that region.
The Department’s establishment of the Education Endowment Foundation (EEF) with a £137 million grant has ensured that schools have access to high quality, evidence-based, effective practice drawn from hundreds of trials across England. We recommend that schools consult the EEF’s resources, particularly its recent ‘Pupil Premium Guide’, when they are considering how best to support their pupils and close the attainment gap.

Research

Collaboration – UUK issued a press release on Brexit day to reaffirm their commitment to working with HE and research institutions across Europe. The group called on their respective Governments to make this a priority as discussions about the future relationship take place. UUK describe the membership of the group: a total of 36 major domestic and international organisations, which includes the European University Association (EUA), 24 National University representative bodies, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and many other bodies across Europe. Excerpt from their joint statement:

“We, the major bodies representing, and partnering with, science and higher education across the UK and Europe, are united in agreeing that we wish to continue to work together following the departure of the UK from the European Union. We call on our national governments and the European Commission to act on the commitments of the political declaration and work swiftly to agree a basis for continued collaboration through the UK’s full association to Horizon Europe and Erasmus+. Swift agreement in this area of clear mutual benefit would be good for all of us and should be reached before the end of 2020, allowing for the development of innovative and stronger collaborations over the decades to come.”

Diversity and underrepresentation – Advance HE have published Increasing Diversity: Tackling underrepresentation of protected groups in HE. It recommends developing quantitative and qualitative skills in institutional research when examining issues of student equity. Wonkhe report that:

the recommendations draw on the findings of eleven projects that designed and implemented interventions to address specific institutional inequities. And that a wider theme is provider’s reluctance to consider targeted outreach and “positive actions”. A detailed set of definitions set out the legal position. Providers noted that targeted work had raised the profile of diversity more generally, and allowed for increased staff awareness of issues via new and challenging conversations.

Other news

Sector Leading: A new Wonkhe blog written by Bristol Student Union’s Education Officer looks the value of a university being recognised as ‘sector leading’ with an eye on what this means for equality, diversity and inclusion, particularly taking risks and trying out new ways to tackle problems and improve the student experience.

They’re often proud of the innovative work they’ve been recognised for – and keen to communicate it. But whilst this could be an indicator that a university has gone “above and beyond”, it raises the question of whether the motivation is competition – being the first to achieve a change – or whether it’s a genuine indication of the intention to continuously be a better and more inclusive place….while there ought to be recognition given to a university that exceeds sector expectations, it is worth senior managers (and sector bodies) thinking about the effect this culture has on the motivation and appetite for change in their institutions – specifically in areas of policy on issues that require careful attention.
The role of the OfS adds another dimension to this. It talks about wanting universities to do better, but student officers around the country report that often its influence acts in reverse… The fear of breaching a condition of registration, dropping a TEF medal or losing money leads institutions to “play it safe”, focus relentlessly on TEF metrics (to the detriment of things not counted or measured).
Competition for student numbers has left so many of us involved in the leadership, governance and management of universities in “constant consciousness” of the impact that a programme or decision might have on reputation. At best it has a chilling effect on bravery or investment with obvious risks or without clear reputational returns. At worst, the need to recruit drives almost all decision making.
….[in ]the coming decade, huge issues remain unresolved. Where and how the sector intends to expand to meet demand for HE without killing communities is one. Tackling deep racial inequalities in the middle of a nasty, anti-PC culture war is another. We need real answers on climate change, to find a way to tackle the costs of student accommodation, and find a way to incentivise the development and improvement of teaching that commands more support than the TEF does now.
To get there, we need creativity, humility and collaboration – and that means that the idea of being a “sector leading” institution needs to go. This type of discourse fails both students and staff. What should replace it should be a new, more genuine sentiment – focused on what we want to collectively achieve.

Student Loans Company: Professor Andrew Wathey (VC Northumbria University) has been appointed as the interim Chair of the Student Loans Company (SLC).He has been a Non-Executive Board member at the SLC since 2018 and was Chair of the SLC Stakeholder Forum between 2010 and 2017.

Hedgehog rankings: Hedgehog fans will be pleased to know that the Preservation Society has launched a TEF style Gold, Silver Bronze accreditation scheme for universities that are looking after their campus hedgehog population.

Mental Health: Wonkhe report that the OfS has awarded £95,000 to student mental health charity Student Minds to develop a Charter Award Scheme, following the publication of Student Minds’ Mental Health Charter. At school level the National Association of Head Teachers has issued a press statement on the (almost) doubling of the numbers of counsellors needed to support school pupils. In 2016 36% of schools sought help for children’s mental health issues, in 2019 it rose to 66%. It was Children’s Mental Health Week this week.

Student Accommodation: The BBC report on three companies who failed to meet fire safety standards in a student residence in Leeds. Action was taken and the companies fined £670,000 in total after a concerned parent reported the safety breaches. Meanwhile Deloitte said the number of student beds under construction in Britain’s biggest regional cities has fallen 16.6% due to concerns over potential oversupply (reported in The Times).

IT: Regulations relating to the Digital Economy Act 2017 require that IT qualifications be provided free of charge for those aged 19+ who do not already hold an appropriate qualification standard in certain specified IT areas.

The Future: The Association of University Administrators are running a survey as part of research identifying future development needs and how professional service roles are developing during the current rapid changes for the HE sector. The survey is open until the end of February.

Student Vote: The impact of the supposed student vote did not deliver the majority Theresa May expected in the 2017 snap general election. The phenomenon has been analysed ad nauseam ever since (revealing it is far more complex than a student vote). However, the Conservatives are concerned to court the younger vote and wary of constituencies with large student populations. Boris Johnson even unsuccessfully tried for an early September 2019 general election reputedly in part to decrease the impact of the student vote by holding it before or in the transition of the beginning of term when students would not be registered to vote in the local university address. HEPI have an interesting blog by Dean Machin (Policy Advisor at Portsmouth University) who tackles some of the anti-student suggestions on limiting the vote and sets it in a wider context by applying the logic to other marginalised sectors within society (the elderly, carers, apprentices, and the terminally ill) – with some results which would be politically unpalatable. It is worth the quick 2 minute read.

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JANE FORSTER | SARAH CARTER

Policy Advisor Policy & Public Affairs Officer

Follow: @PolicyBU on Twitter | policy@bournemouth.ac.uk

September 9, 2019

HE policy update for the w/e 6th September 2019

EU, Funding opportunities, innovation, international, Knowledge Exchange, NHS, policy, Research news jforster

The political to and fro this week has been whiplash-inducing and the Universities Minister job is vacant – again.

Brexit & Parliament

Unfortunately the Universities Minister job is beginning to resemble that of the Hogwarts Defence against the Dark Arts teacher – in a shock announcement on Thursday Jo Johnson resigned as Universities Minister and announced he would be stepping down as a MP in the next election.

Given his views on Brexit it wasn’t really a surprise (it was more of a surprise that he took the job at all) but the timing was dramatic. He said:

“In recent weeks I’ve been torn between family loyalty and the national interest – it’s an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on my roles as MP & Minister”. He announced his resignation through Twitter and it received 17,000 likes (presumably as support for his principled decision) within hours.

Following Jo’s resignation the Spectator and Evening Standard published a 2013 older quote in which Boris criticised Ed Miliband for competing against his brother for the Labour leadership: ‘Only a socialist could do that to his brother, only a socialist could regard familial ties as being so trivial as to shaft his own brother.’ [Spectator]

UUK have said it is unlikely the government will appoint a replacement universities minister because of the likelihood of a general election in the near future. It is expected that Education Secretary Gavin Williamson and Children and Families Minister Kemi Badenoch will cover the brief in the immediate future.

NUS issued a statement responding to Jo’s resignation: “Jo Johnson’s resignation identifies the inability of our current governing structures in the higher education sector to improve the lives of students, as well as how disruptive Brexit negotiations have been to all parts of our society. The next Minister will be the fourth in under a year and these constant changes from Westminster do not provide the continuity that students need to get on and reform education in the UK. A no deal Brexit would be disastrous for students, who bear the burden of an education system that is in crisis. At the NUS, we will continue to critically engage with decision makers in Westminster to resist the damage that a no deal Brexit will have on our members and advocate for structural change to our entire education system.”

Jo’s departure creates a lot of uncertainty for the sector, as there are many live issues in HE, including subject level TEF and Dame Shirley’s review and the Augar Review. Of course we are wondering who will eventually take over the position and become the fifth HE minister in under two years. There’s not a lot of experience of the role left in the Commons now – of all the HE minsters in the last 9 years only one remains as a Conservative MP.

Jo Johnson, alongside Nick Gibb (Minister for School Standards) were the only Education experienced Ministers within the Department for Education. We could of course be in for more changes in the next two months.

Ministers linked to education and HE have not had a good week: Justine Greening, Greg Clark, Sam Gyimah were all expelled from the Conservative Party for voting against the Government whip this week. Here is the list of all 21 ousted MPs. Furthermore, 30 MPs have said they will stand down as MPs and not contest the next election (16 Conservative, 12 Labour, 2 Lib Dem) including some big names. See the list and their reasons for leaving politics here.

In other parliamentary news –

Michelle Donelan has been appointed as an unpaid Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education, as maternity cover for Kemi Badenoch MP (Minister for Children and Families).
Graham Brady has been reinstated as Chair of the 1922 Committee (until the start of the next parliamentary session).

What’s going to happen next

The House of Lords have finalised the Hilary Benn Bill that requires the PM to ask for an extension to Article 50 if he has not finalised a deal that Parliament can support by 19^th October. It was not amended and will now receive Royal Assent and become law.

The government will propose another motion under the Fixed Term Parliaments Act on Monday asking Parliament to agree to holding a general election. The opposition parties have agreed to oppose it or abstain. Under the Act, it needs 434 votes in support to be approved. Unless the government tries a different route, this means that there cannot be an election in October. The other possibility is that they try to pass a law allowing one, but given that they do not have a majority, it is unlikely that this would pass.

Parliament will be suspended (prorogued) for 5 weeks at some point next week.

At the time of writing this, the PM is still saying he will not ask for an extension to Article 50, despite the law that has been passed. It is hard to see how he can avoid doing so unless he resigns. Unless of course he negotiates a deal in the next few weeks and it is approved by Parliament.

If there is an extension, then there is likely to be an election after that, probably before Christmas. And someone will then have to sort out what happens when the extension expires. It is of course very possible that lots of things will happen before the end of October and this could all change several times before then.

Spending Round 2019

Chancellor, Sajid Javid, announced departmental budges during a controversial parliamentary session where he was told off several times by the Speaker for electioneering. In short the spending announcement, termed an infrastructure revolution, covered a one year period and it seems the government are expecting to be awash with cash for police, health, social care, schools, prisons, and places of worship. Dods have produced a comprehensive briefing on it here including reaction from sector stakeholder bodies The Education and Skills section starts on pages 17-18. FE and apprenticeships are also mentioned under the Business section on pages 19-20.

Just a few key points:

Health & Research

Increase to the Health Education England (HEE) budget, including
- an additional £150 million for Continuing Professional Development
- providing a £1,000 central training budget over three years for each nurse, midwife and allied health professional, as well as increased funding for wider education and training budgets to support delivery of the NHS Long Term Plan
The Government is committed to increasing levels of research and development (R&D) to at least 2.4% of GDP by 2027. In the autumn, the government will set out plans to significantly boost public R&D funding, provide greater long-term certainty to the scientific community, and accelerate its ambition to reach 2.4% of GDP
£250m of investment in artificial intelligence from 2020-21 and discovering preventative solutions to issues such as cancer.

Education

Schools got a three year funding settlement, however, this is situated within the changing face of the education sector:
- These announcements come at a time of significant upheaval within the education system.
  The Government’s response to Augar and consultations on Level 3, 4&5 courses are all still outstanding.
  Whilst today’s announcements will go some way towards alleviating anxiety over school budgets, the Government have their work cut out in aligning and resourcing employer led standards across, apprenticeships, T-levels and Higher Technical Qualifications. Such efforts will be integral to assuaging broader concerns over skills shortages post-Brexit.
£400m investment in Further Education in 2020-21
- includes £190m to increase core funding for 16-19- year-olds;
- £210m of funding in targeted interventions such as high-cost programmes, English and Maths resits, T Levels, the Advanced Maths Premium and workforce investments.
No mention of HE.

Stakeholder reaction to Education announcements

The National Education Union commented that the Spending Review saw a “major shift in Government policy”. However, also warned that spending was still “significantly short of what is required”.
The NAHT has the Chancellor’s commitment to further education spending, claiming it as a “big win” and that it will go “some way to restoring the real-terms cuts”. But emphasised that “gaps still remain” and that “we need to work with the government to make sure the money goes where it is most needed”.
The Sixth Form Colleges Association has welcomed the £400million investment in 16 to 19 education and is a foundation upon which to build.
The Association of School and College Leaders has welcomed the money promised by the government, but noted that “even with this additional funding there will still be a shortfall” in education funding.

Student Voter Registration

Earlier this week the Government intended to push for 15 October general election, however political developments seem to have temporarily postponed this (for now, at least). Unless the EU wave a magic wand and a Brexit deal is reached in time for a 31 October exit then a general election at some point late in 2019 remains a very likely possibility.

In Theresa May’s snap 2017 election, there was a widely held belief that young voters had made a huge difference to the results (since largely discredited). In fact a Times article claims a source within Boris’ campaign team has admitted that an advantage of the proposed 15 October election date meant it would limit the numbers of students who register to vote (because the voting registration deadline would have be 27 September).

No matter when (if) the election is held it is important that BU and SUBU play a full role in ensuring students register to vote at their new address. A staggering number of people have registered to vote recently – The Times report that 70,000 under 35’s registered to vote within the last two days.

No doubt, whatever the outcome and whenever the election takes place, the student vote will be closely analysed post-election. For example, in Northampton the Conservative majority is 807 and there are 900 students within new halls of residence.

This is the online link to register to vote.

Soft Power

HEPI have published The soft-power benefits of educating the world’s leaders which details how the UK is falling behind the US in the soft power statistics. Soft power is the eventual influence experienced by educating a person from another country within the UK. The individual receives a positive UK HE experience and considers the UK favourably when they return to work in a leadership position within their own country. HEPI state:

Two years ago, the UK had educated one more serving world leader (58) than the US (57). Today, there is one more serving world leader educated in the UK (59) than back in 2017 but there are three more who were educated in the US (62). Over the same period, the number of world leaders who were educated in France has increased from 34 to 40.

Nick Hillman, Director of HEPI and a co-author of the report, said:

“The soft power that the UK has historically accrued through educating so many of the world’s leaders is extraordinary. It is rivalled only by the US, which is of course far larger. But it cannot be taken for granted. In recent years, the UK has slipped behind the US while the third placed country, France, has made great strides. Moreover, as the UK struggles to find its new place in the world, it may need to rely on the potential benefits from soft power even more than in the past.
Given that the UK’s international student numbers have flatlined in recent years while countries like Australia have been forging ahead, this won’t be easy. Our survey of world leaders provides yet more evidence of the need for a more positive approach towards international students than has been taken over the last decade.”

Tom Huxley, the report researcher, said: “Britain’s higher education sector has, in the past, been the most attractive on the planet for those who go on to lead their own countries. But the growth of US influence in this ranking is striking. US institutions have educated more of today’s world leaders than we have. If recent trends continue, there is a risk that, over time, it could diminish the standing of our universities.”

Access and Success – white working class boys

THE ran an article suggesting digital technology could support universities’ diversity and help bridge the gap in attracting disenfranchised social groups: Reaching invisible students: white working-class boys.

Our work in this area has shown us the potential for digital technology to significantly encourage better student inclusivity, via a combination of effective information delivery and reducing psychosocial barriers to entry.
One of the key barriers for young white working-class men is their lack of confidence that university life is for them. With accents, clothing and lifestyles that may be very different from their more affluent peers, it is hard for them to imagine themselves fitting in.
This is where digital tech can be a great benefit. An online chat event set up by a university can specifically target this group while they are still at school, enabling them to see and hear from those a few years ahead of them and with a similar background. We know that during this key information-gathering stage, it can be a significant advantage to working-class young men to be able to ask questions anonymously and to listen to the questions of other people in the same position as them.
At the same time, this kind of online platform can address financial worries by including someone on the student finance team to explain any bursaries or scholarships available, or the availability of part-time jobs in the area – perhaps again drawing on the experience of other working-class students who have supported themselves financially.
Chatbots can also be useful here… Because chatbots are non-judgemental and unbiased, they can help teens at least familiarise themselves with the jargon, tackle some of their initial worries and gradually build their confidence.
There is potential for this group of men to be invited to online events throughout their university life, offering extra support and helping to minimise the risk of dropping out. These events could also help men to think about future careers and raise their confidence at tackling interviews, recruitment tests and the social aspects of networking.
Universities already plough large investments into outreach and support. But by embracing digital tech platforms, they are going where teenage boys spend time already, potentially attracting them into an academic environment that, although initially alien, could prove to be the making of them.

The article references NEON’s Working Class Heroes report from Feb 2019.

Catching up

You can catch up on our summer updates here. Highlights include Sarah writing about the Impact of Post Qualification Admissions on WP students and a review of the responses to the KEF consultation (from page 5).

Parliamentary Questions

Mental Health

Q – Jo Stevens (Cardiff Central): To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Office for Students has taken since its establishment to assess the adequacy of provision of mental health services and student support at universities.

A – Joseph Johnson:

In our latest guidance to the Office for Students (OfS), we asked that it continue its work to support student experience, with a focus on wellbeing and mental health.
Where a provider has significant gaps in outcomes between students with a declared mental health condition and their peers, the OfS require providers to set out an ambitious strategy to narrow these gaps and promote equality of opportunity, as part of their access and participation plans.
The OfS also regulates at a sector level to share evidence and examples of effective and innovative practice. On 5 June 2019, the OfS announced the award of almost £6 million for 10 large-scale projects through a challenge competition, encouraging higher education providers to find new ways of combating student mental health issues. The OfS has commissioned a programme-level evaluation to gather what works most effectively and to disseminate learning across the sector.
On 17 June 2019, the government announced a £1 million fund for a further OfS challenge competition to find innovative proposals that drive improvements in mental health support for higher education students.

Student grants

Q – Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether it is his policy to reintroduce maintenance grants for students from low and middle income backgrounds in higher education.

and

Q – Angela Rayner: if he will make it his policy to implement the recommendations of the Augar Review

A – Joseph Johnson:

As part of our ongoing review of Post-18 Education and Funding, the government will be considering Philip Augar’s recommendations carefully. The government has not yet taken decisions with regards to the recommendations put forward.
Students from the lowest-income families have access to the largest ever amounts of cash-in-hand support for their living costs. The government has announced a further 2.9% increase to maximum grants and loans for the 2020/21 academic year.
(Same answer to both questions.)

STEM

Q – Andrew Percy: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to encourage more working class young people to take up STEM subjects at university . [282286]

A – Joseph Johnson:

To maintain a dynamic and growing economy, the government is committed to tackling science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) skills shortages. The department is encouraging more students into STEM education and training, at all stages, from primary school to higher education (HE).
To support more students to take STEM subjects at university, the government has increased investment in maths and digital subjects within schools, including a new post-16 maths premium and a new £84 million programme to improve the teaching of computing. Both of these initiatives aim to increase the number of young people taking these subjects, from all backgrounds.
This school-level investment programme is complemented by increasing efforts from the university sector to encourage more disadvantaged students to enter HE. The Office for Students (as the regulator for HE in England) has a duty to promote equality of opportunity in relation to access and participation in HE. In 2018, 18 year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds were proportionally 52% more likely to enter full-time HE than in 2009.

Q – Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect on funding for STEM subjects at higher education institutions of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

A – Gavin Williamson:

Part of the teaching grant funding that the government provides to eligible higher education (HE) providers, via the Office for Students, is allocated to support the provision of high-cost subjects, including science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects. We do not expect this funding arrangement to change as a result of Brexit .
We do not expect any significant short-term increase in the vulnerability of HE providers to financial failure as a result of no deal EU Exit. The income shock from EU exit, deal or otherwise, is expected to be ‘manageable’, and any effect will not lead to a cliff-edge.
Department for Education officials engage regularly with HE institutions in relation to HE funding and the provision of high-priority courses such as STEM, as well as on EU Exit.

Universities: Apprentices

Q – Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department and the Education and Skills Funding Agency are taking to support universities to work closely with non-levy-paying small and medium-sized enterprises .

A – Kemi Badenoch:

The department and the Education and Skills Funding Agency continue to encourage universities to work with employers, including non-levy-paying small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The Degree Apprenticeship Development Fund (DADF) has focussed on building collaborative projects between providers and employers; including non-levy-paying SMEs . DADF has funded additional engagement activities to better understand their needs.
Birmingham City University, University of Greenwich and Aston University have actively engaged with SMEs as part of DADF-funded projects.
Over the course of the next year, all employers will be able to control how they pay for their apprenticeship training and assess and recruit their apprentices via the apprenticeship service. This will allow non-levy paying SMEs to work closely with a greater number of high-quality training providers, including universities.

Q – Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Government is taking to ensure that degree apprenticeships support (a) social mobility and (b) lifelong learning among underrepresented groups.

A – Kemi Badenoch:

Apprenticeships benefit people of all ages and backgrounds, offering high quality on and off-the-job training. Level 6+ and degree apprenticeships offer people an alternative to full time university, as well as the opportunity to upskill or re-train throughout their lives.
The Degree Apprenticeship Development Fund (DADF) aims to enable and encourage greater social mobility and widen participation. The DADF has supported 103 higher education (HE) providers and has resulted in 4,464 degree apprentice starts. The Office for Students has published an evaluation of the fund.
HE providers, such as universities, can include degree apprenticeships in their Access and Participation Plans; these set out how they will support underrepresented groups and help individuals from disadvantaged backgrounds access and succeed in HE. The National Apprenticeship Service works with local partners to ensure that apprenticeships at all levels are available in disadvantaged areas.
We are running an employer engagement campaign, ‘Opportunities through Apprenticeships ’, working with partners in Portsmouth, Nottingham, South Tyneside and Torbay. It aims to support social mobility by creating opportunities for more apprentices from disadvantaged areas to undertake high value apprenticeships with higher earnings potential and progression, such as degree apprenticeships

Electoral Register: Students

Q – Chris Ruane: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of (a) the University of Sheffield ‘s initiative on voter registration for students and (b) mandating universities to promote students to register to vote.

A – Kevin Foster:

The Government is encouraged by the University of Sheffield ’s experience but has no plans to mandate a single approach across the country.
The Government is, however, committed to ensuring the electoral registration system is responsive to the needs of students. Ministerial Guidance was issued to the Office for Students (OfS) in February 2018 acting on a commitment made in Parliament during the passage of the Higher Education and Research Act (2017), directing that they require Higher Education providers to comply with Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) requests for data and they be encouraged to work with Local Authorities to promote electoral registration amongst their student populations. The merits of working closely with EROs have been demonstrated by a number of Higher Education providers across the country.
Yet, the Government does not believe that one size fits all and instead favours an approach which allows innovation.
The Ministerial Guidance has since been used by the OfS to produce their own guidance to Higher Education providers, which advises them how they might best implement, and abide by, the requirements placed on them. The OfS guidance came into force in August. The Government is committed to ensuring everyone who is eligible to register to vote is able to do so and, in 2014, introduced online registration for the first time. Statistics show young people aged between 14 and 24 are more likely than average to use this as a means of registering to vote.
The Government believes these measures will drive up the number of applications to register from students – improving both the completeness and accuracy of the electoral register – as well as further improve the relationships between Higher Education provider and Local Authorities.

Nursing: Training

Q – Graham P Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the additional funding for the NHS announced by the Prime Minister will be used to increase the number of nursing bursaries.

A – Chris Skidmore:

The education funding reforms announced in the 2015 Spending Review started to take effect from August 2017 and pre-registration nursing students began to access student loans rather than receiving a National Health Service bursary.
In January 2019, the NHS published its Long Term Plan which sets out a 10 year vision for healthcare in England . The NHS Interim People Plan, published on 3 June, sets out the immediate actions needed to grow the nursing workforce across all settings by over 40,000 in the next five years.
We will work with the NHS and the Higher Education Institution sector to improve awareness of the financial support packages available to all undergraduate and postgraduate healthcare students and how they can be accessed.

Students: Disadvantaged

Q – Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a student premium for funding (a) further and (b) higher education.

A – Kemi Badenoch:

The government is determined to ensure disadvantaged students are supported in their post-16 education. The national funding formula for 16-19-year olds and the funding through the Adult Education Budget both include a disadvantage uplift. This provides extra funding for disadvantaged students and learners, specifically for those with low prior attainment, or those who live in the most disadvantaged areas.
The government teaching grant funding to the higher education (HE) sector includes 3 student premium allocations that support: full-time students deemed to be at risk of discontinuing their studies; part-time students; and disabled students. All HE providers in the approved (fee cap) category of the Office for Students register are eligible to receive these student premium allocations, including further education college ’s offering HE.

Q – Cat Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the announcement of 27 February 2019 that new youth voice projects will be launched to encourage young people to participate in making national policy, what policies will be prioritised for youth participation; and what steps she will take to ensure the work and influence of the projects is transparent.

A – Nicky Morgan:

Three new youth voice projects were announced in February to encourage young people to participate in making national policy:

– Youth Steering Group

– Young Inspectors Group

– Digital Youth engagement research

The Youth Steering Group has already been involved in discussing the Government’s future offer for young people and the review of the guidance which sets out the statutory duty placed on local authorities to provide appropriate local youth services. The Department for the Environment Food and Rural Affairs and the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy invited the Youth Steering Group to conduct a review of environment and climate policy. Young people are also contributing to policy development on serious violence through the Government’s Youth Advisory Forum on Serious Violence .

The Young Inspectors Group are participating in the monitoring and evaluation of national programmes affecting young people.

The Digital Youth Engagement research explored how new digital solutions can enable large numbers of young people to play a role in consultations and policy design across government.

We will make further announcements on these pioneering Youth Voice projects in due course

Research

UK Research and Innovation has published its vision for how it will promote world-leading research and innovation that is built on the knowledge and values of society and open to people from all backgrounds. Its four goals are to:

Focus on under-represented communities and places
Actively involve people in their work
Inspire and empower young people
Listen to and understand public concerns and aspirations

The goals will be delivered through funding calls, commissioning research and analysis, and piloting new approaches. The vision was launched in conjunction with UKRI’s first public engagement funding call for universities and community partners to test new ways to collaborate on research and innovation with under-represented communities.

Special Educational Needs

The Government have announced a ‘major review’ into support for children with special educational needs, seeking to build on the 2014 reforms. The review comes a week after the Government announced a funding boost of £700m in 2020/21 for pupils with the most complex needs.

Education, Health and Care Plans, launched in 2014, were designed to deliver tailored support to children and young people aged 0-25 with the most complex special education needs. The new review will look at how the system has evolved since then, how it can be optimised for families, and how to ensure quality provision is delivered across the country. It will also explore the role of health care in SEND in collaboration with the DHSC.

The review will look at and put forward new actions on:

The evidence on how the system can provide the highest quality support that enables children and young people with SEND to thrive and prepare for adulthood, including employment
Helping parents to make decisions about what kind of support will be best for their child
Making sure support in different local areas is consistent, joined up across health, care and education services, and that high-quality health and education support is available across the country
How to strike the right balance of state-funded provision across inclusive mainstream and specialist places
Aligning incentives and accountability for schools, colleges and local authorities to make sure they provide the best possible support for children and young people with SEND
Understanding what is behind the rise in education, health and care (EHC) plans and the role of specific health conditions in driving demand
Ensuring that public money is spent in an efficient, effective and sustainable manner, placing a premium on securing high quality outcomes for those children and young people who need additional support the most.

Education Secretary Gavin Williamson said: Our reforms in 2014 gave vital support to more children, but we know there have been problems in delivering the changes that we all want to see. So it’s the right time to take stock of our system and make sure the excellence we want to see as a result of our changes is the norm for every child and their families.

Minister for Care Caroline Dinenage said: The support and care for people with special educational needs and disabilities is one of my top priorities. The SEND review will be crucial in widening our knowledge of the parts of the system which are working well and the areas which need improvement. The Department for Health and Social Care will play a key role in the review so we can ensure that high quality healthcare support is available for all throughout the country.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Amber Rudd said: Children with special needs and disabilities need to get the right educational support and health care so they can thrive. This review will help make sure all families get the support they need so every child, young person and their parents feel extremely positive about their future.

MPs have repeatedly raised concerns over the number of timeliness of completed EHCPs, with it being reported that only 24% were completed in the statutory time limit in the Secretary of State’s own constituency. Nationally, only 3% of children in England have SEND statements or EHCPs. The Government contend that, owing to the introduction of EHCPs more than 350,000 children and young people aged 0-25 with the most complex special educational needs are receiving the tailored support they need to thrive and receive a world-class education. Of those in schools around half (130,000) are continuing in mainstream education.

T-levels

The DfE have published a policy update as a compendium to their T-level action plan. Key Points:

Grading and Certification:

The T Level Certificate will include:

an overall grade for the T Level, shown as Pass, Merit, Distinction or Distinction
a separate grade for the core component, using A* to E
a separate grade for each occupational specialism studied, shown as Pass, Merit or Distinction
confirmation that the minimum requirements for maths and English qualifications have been met
confirmation that the industry placement has been successfully completed
confirmation that any additional mandatory requirements have been met

A T Level Distinction grade is only awarded to students who, as well as meeting the other T Level requirements, have achieved an A* in the core and a Distinction in their occupational specialism (or Distinction on aggregate if more than one occupational specialism is studied).

UCAS Tariff Points:

To support progression into higher education, UCAS tariff points will be allocated to T Levels. Points will be allocated to overall T Level grades, not to separate elements of the T Level. This is to recognise the value of the T Level programme as a whole. Students must achieve at least an overall Pass grade or higher in order to receive UCAS points.
The size and rigour of a T Level programme is comparable to a 3 A Level programme. Therefore, T Levels will attract UCAS points in line with those allocated to 3 A Levels.
Although the T Level programme is broadly the same size as a 3 A level programme, the qualifications have different purposes. The T Level programme is intended to help students develop the knowledge and technical skills required for skilled employment. T Levels and A Levels therefore measure different abilities, using different grading scales.
A T Level Pass grade is allocated a tariff score of either 72 or 96 points: where a student has obtained an overall Pass by achieving a Pass in the occupational specialism and a B or C in the core, a tariff of 96 UCAS points. Where a student has obtained an overall Pass by achieving a Pass in the occupational specialism and a D or E in the core, a tariff of 72 UCAS points.
The tariff points allocated to overall Merit and Distinction T Level grades represent even increments between the points allocated to an overall Pass (with a C or above in the core component) and Distinction* grade.

Despite the allocation of UCAS points to T-levels, the policy paper twice emphasises that the qualifications are predominantly designed to deliver a direct route into skilled employment, given the industry placement inherent in the qualification. It also lacks detail how the qualifications will feed into Level 4 & 5 Higher Technical Education (HTE), currently under review by the Government. In the HTE consultation the Government emphasise the importance aligning of employer-led standards across apprenticeships, T Levels and HTQs. They also state their desire that HTE be a prestigious choice for those completing T-levels.

Consultations

Click here to view the updated consultation tracker. Email us on policy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you’d like to contribute to any of the current consultations.

New responses this week:

BU’s response to the new BCP Council Plan
BU’s response to Make it Public consultation on transparency in health and social care

Other news

New Towns Fund: Bournemouth is on a (short) list of 100 towns eligible to receive funding if they successfully work with Government to develop innovative regeneration plans. The Government announcement states:

The towns eligible for support from the £3.6 billion Towns Fund include places with proud industrial and economic heritage but have not always benefitted from economic growth in the same way as more prosperous areas.
Communities, businesses and local leaders will now join forces to draw up ambitious plans to transform their town’s economic growth prospects with a focus on improved transport, broadband connectivity, skills and culture.
Today’s announcement follows the Prime Minister’s confirmation in July of an additional £1.325 billion to support towns as part of a renewed vision to level up our regions, which took the total value of the Towns Fund to £3.6 billion.
The government will soon publish a prospectus to guide towns through the process and set eligibility criteria for funding.
Once approved, new Town Deals will improve connectivity, provide vital social and cultural infrastructure and boost growth – with communities having a say on how the money is spent.

Here is the full list of eligible towns.

Migration: Research Professional report on the Office for National Statistics who have announced inaccuracies in their non-EU migration figures (overestimation) due to inaccurate international student data.

Student Loans: The SLC has issued top tips for actions students should take to ensure they receive their maintenance loans on time. Meanwhile £28 million pounds worth of overpaid student loan contributions still hasn’t been able to be returned to the students who are due a refund. The SLC has written to the students who overpaid but £28 million remains unclaimed. Research Professional have the detail here.

Commuting: A Government news story highlights how the gender pay gap is exacerbated by reluctance to undertake a longer commute despite a higher salary.

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JANE FORSTER | SARAH CARTER

Policy Advisor Policy & Public Affairs Officer

Follow: @PolicyBU on Twitter | policy@bournemouth.ac.uk

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HE Policy Update for the w/e 7th February 2020

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