A busy day today for the government’s controversial plans for higher education. A report by the Commons public accounts committee has suggested student numbers might have to be reduced to avoid a spending black hole resulting from increased student loans following the raising of the tuition fees cap to £9,000 a year.The report also said that the government had “significantly” underestimated the number of universities that will charge the maximum £9,000 a year. Figures compiled by the Guardian show that 105 universities have declared what they will charge, with an average of £8,765. The government modelled its plans on an average of £7,500.
Meanwhile Oxford University is this afternoon expected to take a vote of no confidence in the higher education minister, David Willetts, in the most aggressive act of the university against the government since the Thatcher era. Jeevan Vasagar, the Guardian’s education editor, will be reporting live from the debate and the vote.Sally Hunt of the University and College Union (UCU) has said that the government has “lost the plot” on higher education. Hunt said:The government has lost the plot when it comes to higher education and unless they pause, like they did with the NHS, they will do lasting damage to the sector. It is clear they have got their sums completely wrong and that their entire funding model is in disarray. By introducing a market and cutting institutions’ budgets, the government is at risk of gambling away the future of our universities and our children’s education.
And the row over AC Grayling’s New College of the Humanities – a new private university planning to charge students £18,000 a year – continues, with accusations the institution has copied University of London syllabuses.We’ll follow all these issues here as they continue to unfold throughout the day.
11.24am: A busy day today for the government’s controversial plans for higher education. A report by the Commons public accounts committee has suggested student numbers might have to be reduced to avoid a spending black hole resulting from increased student loans following the raising of the tuition fees cap to £9,000 a year.