The purpose of this blueprint is to define the actions which universities themselves can take, alongside government, to ensure that our university system is stronger and better equipped to deliver for the UK in 10 years’ time than it is today.
To do this well, we must start with an assessment of its current strengths and weaknesses, where possible comparing us with our international counterparts.
Opportunity: changes in participation and inequality
Significant progress has been made in widening access to higher education in the last decade, but gaps between different parts of the country, and different groups in society remain too wide.
Fig 1.1: Differences in participation by a) geography b) POLAR Quintle, free school meals
The UK should narrow the gaps in participation by geography, background and personal characteristics. This is the focus of Chapter 1.
Participation in UK higher education has grown significantly in the last two decades. Almost all advanced economies have pursued the same path.
University interaction with business
Universities of all types work closely with business, public sector and community groups, and this has grown over time.
Fig 1.2: Higher education business and community interaction
The number of interactions vary by type and region
Fig 1.3: University interactions with business by region and interaction type
Graduates in the labour market
Despite growth in the number and proportion of students, employment rates are high, and demand for graduate level skills is growing.
Fig: 1.4 Graduate employment and labour market demand
The proportion of graduates in the workforce varies by region.
Fig 1.5: Graduates in the workforce, by region
Research and innovation
The UK is a world leader in research and innovation, but our position is at risk of slipping in the face of growing international competition. More than half of British universities featured in the QS world rankings have seen their ratings decline this year.
Fig 1.6: Global Innovation Index - position over time
Fig 1.7: The performance of the UK research system
Public investment into higher education and research
Higher education and research are structurally underfunded in all four nations of the UK, and increasingly reliant on international fee income to subsidise domestic education and research.
Fig 1.8: Teaching funding per student in England
The UK has one of the lowest levels of public investment in teaching in the OECD, and one of the highest levels of private (graduate) contribution.