The post-18 education system in England transforms the lives of all those living in the UK.
It is integral to the UK’s creativity, cultural heritage and civil society. It creates the knowledge and skills that individuals will use over their lifetimes both at work and outside of work. It affects the earning power of individuals and how prosperity is shared across the localities and regional economies of the UK. It drives innovation and economic growth, is key to sustaining the UK’s ability to compete globally, and underpins policy-making and the delivery of public services.
In it's submission to the government's review of post-18 education and funding, Universities UK recommends:
the government should, in partnership with universities, provide more targeted information to prospective students on the costs and benefits of higher education
universities could develop their value for money statements, to better explain how pricing decisions for undergraduate courses are arrived at. These should explain how the university uses income from tuition fees, and other sources of income, to fund the student experience and other activities such as research
to deal with students’ concerns about living costs, new funding should be introduced to restore maintenance grants for those most in need
to help address students’ fears of debt, government should remove the interest rate that starts building from the start date of the course, and deliver better financial advice, especially on the difference between student loan debt and conventional debt
greater exploration of ways that learners can study more flexibly and piloting preferential loan repayment terms for subjects that address national skills shortages