Review of Post-18 Education and Funding

As Part of my role as Events and Policy Assistant, I get to work on policy matters regarding Higher Education sector with our Policy Advisor. About 3 months ago the government launched a review of Post-18 Education and Funding. Subsequently, an independent panel has been formed to inform the review's work and the panel has issued a call for evidence to inform its work.

The review was launched on 21/03 and closed last week 2/05.

I enjoy policy work, a democratic evidence backed way of influencing rules and regulations of the government. The interesting thing is that everyone can provide evidence to the regular call for evidence by various departments of the government.

For instance, at the moment the Department of Education has issued a call for evidence for "evidence on issues connected with elective home education". I wonder how would I have turned out to be if I was homeschooled? Perhaps the next Stephen Hawking, haha.

Nonetheless, going back to the subject of the review, the University and Student Union have collaborated on this submission and jointly worked on it. The key take away are the below 5 recommendations:

1. Do not fundamentally overhaul the university funding system by cutting university income or introducing differential fees. Policy should continue to be driven by the objective of expanding high-quality post-18 education that meets the country’s skills needs and offers students the best possible experience. This requires sustainable funding.

2. Our students make clear that the greatest challenge for them is the cost of living. There should be a fundamental reform of the student maintenance system, which should include the introduction of a “living loan” sufficient to cover the cost of living and the restoration of non-repayable maintenance grants for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

3. The student loan system must be fair, and therefore should be designed so students incur no real rate of interest on their student loan.

4. There has been a significant decline in mature, part-time and nursing students, and intervention is needed to address this. The review panel must fully review the needs of these students in particular, and the University would be happy to support this process.

5. Prospective students must have a choice and be able to access all the information they need to make informed decisions about their post-18 education. Both the Government and Universities have an important role to play in achieving this.

Now, we wait and see what will the outcome of the review be, a trim around the edges or a complete overhaul as promised?