1. “Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.”
Welcome and update
Professor Keith Mander University of Kent CPHC Conference Birmingham, April 2007

2. Outline Update on CPHC activities since 2006 conference
Student number trends
Promotional activities
Links with BCS
Accreditation & related issues (Roland Ibbett)
Benchmarking (Andrew McGettrick)

3. UGs accepted through UCAS (G4-G7 codes)
1999 entry
2000 entry
2001 entry
2002 entry
2003 entry
2004 entry
2005 entry
2006 entry

4. Change in balance of student population
Year Total FT UGs PT UGs FT PGs PT PGs
1998/
1999/
2000/
2001/
2002/
2003/
2004/
2005/
Notes
Total numbers increasing
FTUGs now decreasing
Will decline in FTUGs lead to further decline in FTPGs?
PTUGs increasing significantly

5. Numbers entering employment
Year Total UG
2002/
2003/
2004/
UK domiciled entering UK employment (estimates)
Year Total UG
2002/
2003/
2004/

6. Some key policy messages
Does the decline in student numbers (in Computing) affect companies in my constituency? [MPs]
The Labour Government has not damaged provision in Computing since 1997 because computing numbers now much higher than in 1997 [Bill Rammell]
Computing is strategic, but not vulnerable because G4 UCAS code is 8th most popular (of 166 JACS codes) [David Young, Chairman HEFCE]
Skills are important (see Leitch), and e-skills thought to be one of the better Sector Skills Councils [HEFCE]
Additional student numbers announced by HEFCE, but some “co-funded by employers” [HEFCE]

7. Some questions for dinner tonight
Are employers worried by the decline in numbers of students interested in reading Computing subjects?
Yes, very
No, Computing students have an over-inflated idea of their worth, and graduates from Eastern Europe are cheaper
Drama graduates are really good
Does the decline of entrants, and possible expansion of graduate opportunities, constitute a crisis?
For whom? Just CPHC members? Employers?
When? Now? 2009? 2012?
Over the whole IT sector, or selectively?

8. Some questions for discussion tomorrow
Is the future of research affected by this decline (and fees)?
Do employers think that there should be more people with level 4 qualifications; if so, would they be prepared to pay/support this?
If HEIs are encouraged to “employer/user engagement” (in teaching and research), should employers be encouraged to “academic engagement”?
In “the skills debate” what “skills” are we talking about?
Is it possible/desirable to:
Deepen engagement between employers and HEIs?
Improve linkages between schools and HEIs?
Increase the uptake of degree courses that are “valued by employers”?
1.  Applications for Computer Science degrees have declined by about 50% since 2001.  This will soon be felt in the numbers of Computer Science graduates coming out of universities.  Are employers of graduates worried about this?  I have heard three views: (i) yes, desperately; (ii) we need graduates but not necessarily Computer Science graduates, so we are content providing the number of graduates is rising; (iii) Computer Science graduates have an over-inflated idea of their worth, and we can recruit appropriate graduates from Eastern Europe, Malta, etc.
2.  There is a lot of Government rhetoric about increasing further the number of people with level 4 qualifications (i.e. one year post-school/College).  See the Leitch report ( the basic headlines), and recent HEFCE documents ( Some of this rhetoric suggests that increased provision will be "co-funded by employers".  So a second question might be: do NCC members think that there should be more people with level 4 qualifications, and if so, would they be prepared to pay (or perhaps support in some other way) such a development?
3.  The concept of "employer engagement" features large on many agendas within higher education - research councils, professional accreditation, advisory committees - and there is some evidence that some employers value this by providing sandwich placements, prizes, equipment, research funding, probably for a variety of business-related reasons.  Why does "academic engagement" not feature on the agendas of NCC members?  This may be related to (1) above, may also be answered by many companies having very specific relationships with very specific parts of higher education, and may be answered by their being quite a lot of academic engagement going on in companies, but no one knows about it.
This proposal specifically supports HEFCE’s priorities in terms of:
Deepening engagement between employers and Higher Education;
Improving linkage between schools and universities;
Increasing the uptake of degree courses that are valued by employers;
Widening participation and inclusion.

10. CPHC activities Working with BCS Promotional activities
Increased support for CPHC
web site (
administrative support
joint work
Identify common purposes
Learned Society debate
Promotional activities
Employer engagement: Microsoft, and others
We need to do more in this area

11. Reports on other activities
Accreditation and related issues (Roland Ibbett)
Benchmarking (Andrew McGettrick)