Higher Education: Students at the Heart of the System. An Analysis of the Higher Education White Paper

This report analyses the Government’s White Paper on the future of higher education. It concludes that the Government’s policies will succeed in their most important aim – that of reducing the level of tuition fees. However, the price will be much greater government control over universities than in the past, and a system where market mechanisms have had to be sacrificed to central direction. The reforms are also likely to lead to a polarized sector with a small number of institutions charging the maximum fee of £9000 and the majority reducing their fees to around £7500. The report concludes further that there are serious doubts about whether the new funding arrangements will lead to savings on the scale predicted by the government.