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 2008-11

• £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 2011-12 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 2008-2011

2008-09 2009-10 2010-110

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

35,000

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Full Time Equivalent (FTE) Headcount Rate of recruitment

No. of students

Rate of recruitment against HEFCE targets

Growth in employers co-funding students

2008-09 2009-10 2010-110

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

4,000

4,500

5,000

Numbers of employers Employers new to institution

Growth in employer co-funding 2008-2011

2008-09 2009-10 2010-11£0

£10

£20

£30

£40

£50

£60

£10.1M£19.4M

£31.2M£4.3M

£12.8M

£21.2M

HEFCE funding Employer co-funding

HEFCE/employercontibutions (£M)

Nature of employer co-funding 2010-11

Private sector cash, £4.0M

Private sector in-kind, £4.5M

Public sector cash, £5.8M

Public sector in-kind, £6.8M

Proportion of students by price groups, mode, and level 2010-11

• Caveat – many learners aiming for institutional credit

Price groups Mode Level0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

B22% Full time

13%

Foundation Degree19%

C34%

Part time87% Undergraduate

64%

D42%

Postgraduate17%

A & Media 2%

Proportion of students

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 2013-14 onwards by April 2012 - submission of fees and access proposals

for 2013-14 Sep 2012 - first intake of new fee payers by Aug 2013 – designation of new providers

Key next steps

Thank you for listening

d.sweeney@hefce.ac.uk