The UK Government’s continued reliance on tuition fees as the main funding mechanism for Higher Education will mean staff will lose out and students will be placed in increasing amounts of debt. UNISON’s Higher Education Service Group Executive (HESGE) is calling for a radical overhaul of the university funding system – one which recognises the broad and crucial value HE brings to society as a whole.
The HESGE notes the UK Government’s White Paper on post-16 education and skills in England. Upskilling people, promoting their potential and ensuring they succeed in the labour market, regardless of background, is ambitious but achievable with the right policies and funding model.
The White Paper emphasises a need for ‘value for students’ and alignment with ‘the needs of the economy’ in higher education; it is understood that future tuition fee increases will be tied to ‘quality’. The HESGE believes that all disciplines have a role to play in this, including the arts, social science and humanities, which should be emphasised as bringing significant economic, cultural and social benefits alongside science, technology, engineering and maths. But it is vital that the notion of quality is broadly defined, with a genuine recognition of the value all HE brings to students and wider society, rather than enabling ‘elite’ universities to thrive at the expense of others.
However, the Government’s objectives can only be achieved with a thriving, properly funded higher education sector based on free education. The announcement that tuition fees are set to rise in line with inflation will not fix the current funding crisis and may deter many young people from going to university, especially those from less affluent backgrounds. Equally, the policy does not address pay in the sector for dedicated staff whose pay has fallen significantly below inflation, this year receiving one of the lowest offers in the public services. UNISON members in Higher Education are extremely unhappy with the impact under-funding of the sector has had on their working lives and their livelihoods. Successive national pay offers have been roundly rejected by our membership, with thousands voting in support of industrial action in protest at the cuts in their pay.
While increasing fees in line with inflation will help some institutions mitigate some short-term challenges, it is nowhere near enough to secure the future of higher education.
Higher Education is in crisis. A combination of tuition fees, Brexit, declining international student numbers – exacerbated by a hostile environment towards immigration – and inflationary pressure means that some universities are experiencing mass redundancies and even the threat of insolvency.
Higher Education in Scotland, Cymru and Northern Ireland also faces crises. In Scotland, some institutions are reporting tens of millions of pounds in projected deficit, and while the Scottish government has ruled out the introduction of tuition fees for domestic students, universities remain chronically underfunded. In Cymru, universities are similarly facing acute financial strain, and public funding has not kept pace with inflation. In Northern Ireland significant financial pressures are being exacerbated by increasing demand for services without increased funding and an unsustainable funding model. Across all nations of the United Kingdom, university support staff in particular face severe strain, with the threat of redundancies and deep cuts that will cause lasting harm to the universities sector.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have already announced reviews on the future of higher education funding and the sustainability of the sector. It is likely that there will be a similar review in Wales following the announcement of the fees increase in England. UNISON will be full participants of these reviews.
UNISON believes that the continued reliance on an HE funding model based on tuition fees will mean that more and more debt is shifted to students, and university staff will pay for the lack of funding through pay cuts and unstable employment. We need a radical overhaul of the higher education sector, and a longer-term and more sustainable funding model than indefinite tuition fee rises. One based on free education, and not solely for economic utility, but one that also incorporates and values social cohesion and cultural enrichment. Higher education is a vital element in the government’s growth agenda, and a key contributor to the future prosperity of our cities, regions and nations.