Building for the Future David Sweeney 18 November, 2011

Workforce Development ‘We need to develop radical approaches that can lead to much higher levels of access to higher education by older people already in the workplace. This means models of HE that make available relevant, flexible and responsive provision that meets the high skill needs of employers and their staff.... I would like you to develop a new model for funding higher education that is co-financed with employers, achieves sustained growth in employer based student places, and introduces the principle of employer demand-led funding.’ January 2007 HEFCE Grant Letter

HEFCE Investment £100M investment to develop HE infrastructure for employer workforce development £50M HEFCE co-funded provision allocated to more than 90 HEIs and FECs Diversity of approaches: institutional, regional, national, sectoral Intention that existing investment provides a sustainable platform for further growth from onwards

What has been achieved?  Development of HE infrastructure  Admin systems  New staff roles  QA processes  Growth in work-based students co-funded by HEFCE, many students new to HE  Development of employer relationships  Increased knowledge, learning and confidence across the sector

Growth in work-based students

Growth in employers co-funding students

Growth in employer co-funding

Nature of employer co-funding

Proportion of students by price groups, mode, and level Caveat – many learners aiming for institutional credit

And this hasn’t happened in isolation (1) Additional student numbers HE Centres in ‘cold spots’, based on HE-FE partnership Lifelong Learning Networks (LLNs) Foundation Degree, part-time and widening participation allocations Economic Challenge Investment Fund (ECIF) Undergraduate and graduate internships Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF)

And this hasn’t happened in isolation (2)

the Independent Review of Higher Education and Student Finance (October 2010) Parliament approves £9K fee limit (December 2010) HE White Paper (June 2011) HEFCE Strategy statement (July 2011) BIS Technical consultation (October 2011) HEFCE Business plan (October 2011). The changing policy context

Tackling higher education reform

Investment: targeting investment on clearly defined ‘public benefit’ outcomes and ensuring a smooth transition to the new funding arrangements Regulation: undertaking our role as the ‘lead regulator’, safeguarding the collective interests of students and the wider public, and supporting the development of the new regulatory framework Information: taking forward the KIS, and undertaking a streamlined approach to information management including monitoring impact of reforms Partnership: continuing to work in close collaboration with universities and colleges, public bodies, students, charities and the business community. HEFCE’s practices

 From HEFCE’s programme, HEIs tell us:  WFD Likely to remain a strategic priority  Looking to new markets including overseas  Integrating employer facing activities, use of HEIF  Need to develop more realistic costing and pricing  Need to understand their impact on employers/employees  Loans for part time students (25% to 75% intensity)  Part time outside of the SNC at present  Higher level apprenticeships  Regional developments (LEPs / Enterprise zones)  Can HE do more to contribute to economic growth? In this context, what are the opportunities for HE work based learning?

 Oct 2011 to May 2012 – legislation on new regulatory framework  Nov 2011 – Innovation and Research Strategy  Jan 2012 – Wilson review of university-business interaction  Feb to May 2012 – consultation on HEFCE teaching funding from onwards  by April submission of fees and access proposals for  Sep first intake of new fee payers  by Aug 2013 – designation of new providers Key next steps

Thank you for listening