Universities blasted by MPs for not giving enough value for money or helping poor students
A report by the Commons Education Committee found that more focus must be put on teaching skills and supporting disadvantaged students
UNIVERSITIES must concentrate on value for money and improving access for poorer students, MPs say today.
A report published by the Commons Education Committee calls for a sharper focus on the teaching of skills and more support for disadvantaged students.
Committee chair Rob Halfon demanded an expansion of degree apprenticeships as well as a fresh look at excessive vice chancellor pay.
He said: “The blunt reality is that too many universities are not providing value for money and that students are not getting good outcomes from the degrees for which so many of them rack up debt.
“Too many institutions are neither meeting our skills needs or providing the means for the disadvantaged to climb the ladder of opportunity.”
The report suggests the “unjustifiably” excessive salaries of vice-chancellors have become the norm rather than the exception.
It also says they do not represent value for money for students or taxpayers.
In the report MPs also say they are “deeply concerned” by the fall in part-time and mature learners.
They say universities must offer more flexible learning, including credit transfer, work placements and a move away from the traditional three-year undergraduate approach.
The rise in tuition fees in 2012 and the introduction of maintenance loans has led to students from the poorest backgrounds accruing debts over a three-year degree of around £57,000.
The report says the Government should reinstate the means-tested system of loans and maintenance grants.
Mr Halfon added: “Our higher education system needs to have a much sharper focus on developing skills.
“This could make an important contribution to filling the nation’s skills gaps and solving the UK’s productivity puzzle.
“Russell Group universities, including Oxford and Cambridge, should rise to this challenge, up their game and rocket-boost degree apprenticeships.”
A Department for Education spokesman said: “Our reforms have seen record rates of disadvantaged 18-year-olds attending our world-class universities and we want this to continue.
"That’s why we are pleased to see universities and further education colleges planning to spend more than £860 million on measures to improve access and outcomes for disadvantaged students.”
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