Scottish universities could fall behind, warns report

English universities could become larger and better-funded than those in the rest of the UK, a report has warned.

The study, released by the vice-chancellors' group Universities UK (UUK), has found that since devolution English institutions have grown faster than those in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

While the higher education sector has continued to grow across the UK, the report found that English universities have pulled ahead in key areas, including income from research funding, student numbers and proportion of international students.

Since the devolution of higher education policy, the fee structures across the UK have diverged. The report warns that the forthcoming introduction of deferred variable fees in England is likely to increase the gap in funding, especially when compared with Scottish universities.

The complexity of different fee structures has caused the number of students selecting higher education in their home countries to increase, it concluded.

However, institutions in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland all remain better than England at securing greater participation by students from lower socio-economic groups, and Scotland still enjoys significantly more than its population share of UK research funding, although on a proportional basis this share is now declining while England’s rises.

The report concludes that in order to maintain consistent degree standards across the UK, it is necessary for authorities to give greater consideration to all parts of the UK when policy decisions relating to higher education are made.

The report has also called for continued efforts to increase collaboration between higher education authorities to develop a fairer, UK-wide system for obtaining research funding.

UUK president Professor Rick Trainor said: “Devolution has had an impact on public policy in almost every sector, and higher education is no exception.

"Although there have not been extreme variations in higher education policy across the devolved administrations, devolution has still led to a range of anomalies, discrepancies and complexities for the sector.

"For students, such complexities have made decisions about where to study much harder than formerly."

The report's author, Alan Trench of the University of Edinburgh's School of Law, said: "It has been easy to over-estimate the extent to which devolution has meant the best of both worlds up to now – both autonomy and a shared higher education system.

"That probably benefits all parties, but if it’s to continue then it’s important for the bodies responsible for England to remember to take account of the concerns of the devolved governments and funding agencies.

"My work found that they had been overlooked on several occasions, and making sure that governments work effectively together is essential if the present situation is to continue."

Matthew MacLeod
Saturday 10 January 2009, journal-online.co.uk