More Means Better: 50 Years of Higher Education Roderick Floud Provost, Gresham College 1

My career Taught at University College London, Cambridge, Birkbeck College London and held Visiting Chair at Stanford. Head of University for 18 years Member, Economic and Social Research Council, Founder Convenor, London Higher Education Consortium, President of Universities UK, Vice-President of European University Association, Chair of Social Sciences Committee of European Science Foundation, Member of British Academy, AcSS and Academia Europaea and holder of seven honorary degrees and fellowships Published 50 books and articles on economic history 2

and The Robbins Report and “More will mean worse” (Kingsley Amis). What has happened since British higher education in 2014 and what needs to happen now. 3

More of everything: - – More students in more universities – More women – More part-time students – More research – More European teaching and research – The world More has meant better 4

Emerging from recession: Guardian 2/5/14 5

More students “Throughout our Report we have assumed as an axiom that courses of higher education should be available for all those who are qualified by ability and attainment to pursue them and who wish to do so.” Robbins Report

Students in tertiary education, Great Britain, Source: Robbins Report; UNESCO 7

Participation in HE (% of age-group) YearParticipation rate

More women The % of graduates who are women CountryBachelor’s degreeDoctoral degree Iceland69%44 Portugal60%62% OECD average59%46% UK57%45% USA57%53% China47%44% Japan44%28% 9 Source: OECD, data for 2010

The “little woman” wins a Nobel prize in

Male and female participation rates: England Source: HEFCE 2013, ‘Trends in young participation in higher education’ 11

More part-time students Source: Eurostudent

Fall in participation of part-time students Source: Derived from HEFCE 2013, ‘Trends in young participation in higher education’ 13

More research 14

Strength of the UK research base 15

More Europe The European Higher Education and Research Areas: – The Bologna Process – EU framework programmes, Horizon 2020 and the European Research Council – The European Science Foundation/Science Europe 16

The world 17

The UK is extraordinarily attractive to international students Source: OECD 2013, ‘Education at a Glance’ 18

Dependence on overseas – ie not UK or EU -students 20-30% overseas students (28) – Aston, Brunel, Cardiff Metropolitan, Courtauld Institute, Heriot- Watt, Queen Mary, RAM, RCA, RCM, Royal Holloway, City, Bath, Cambridge, East Anglia, Edinburgh, Essex, Exeter, Lancaster, Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield, Sunderland, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick, 30-40% overseas students (6) – Glyndwr, Imperial, SOAS, Buckingham, UCL, Univ. of Arts 40-50% overseas students (3) – LSE, School of Hygiene, St. Andrews > 50% overseas students (1) – LBS 19

More has meant better “This expansion has not been accompanied by any lowering of standards but rather the reverse.” Robbins Report

Expansion will continue Mess, muddle or omnishambles What needs to be done: - – Too many universities, doing too many things – Specialisation and the reduction of duplication – Proper funding of research – Fund, not fund raise 21

Young entry rates to higher education Source: OECD 2013, ‘Education at a Glance’ 22

Expansion will continue Source: HEPI 2013, ‘The impact on demand of the Government’s reforms of higher education’ 18-yr old Participation rate 23

Mess, muddle or omnishambles “it is difficult to defend the continued absence of co-ordinating principles and of a general conception of objectives.” … “the needs of the present and still more of the future demand that there should be a system.” Robbins Report

Too many universities, doing too many things 25

Universities as hoteliers 26 Major Banks - Branches of Santander & Barclays Restaurants – le Gusta oven & bar, the Dirty Duck, Xananas - to name a few Bars – the terrace bar, Arts Centre café bar Coffee shops – Curiositea, Costa Coffee Shops – the Bookshop, Costcutter, Student Union Market Post Office – located within Costcutter Hairdressers - Thompson & Murray Hair and Beauty Pharmacy

Universities as bus companies 27

Specialisation and the reduction of duplication 28

Research funding in the UK The state through “dual support”: – The Higher Education Funding Councils – The Research Councils Charities – e.g. Wellcome, Nuffield, Rowntree, Leverhulme, Cancer Research UK, etc. Europe Private industry 29

Proper funding of research? UniversityChange in share of research funds, (Percentage points) UCL+ 3.2 Imperial+ 2.8 Oxford+ 1.7 KCL+ 1.0 Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Reading, Southampton, York to Birmingham, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester, Liverpool, LSE, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Sheffield, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick to -0.9 Overall change

Fund, not fund-raise 31

Higher education on the cheap Public investment in HE as percentage of GDP Private investment in HE as percentage of GDP Source: OECD 2013, ‘Education at a Glance’ 32

Conclusion A great British success story – 2.8% of British GDP and export earnings of £10.7 billion p.a. But also a mess and a muddle We need to take a fresh look – a new Robbins report Meanwhile: – Fewer universities – Specialise – Reform research funding – Forget fund-raising and Fund British higher education properly 33