Higher education

This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on higher education. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.

Standard Notes

Date	Description
01.03.2013	HE in England from 2012: Student numbers
	New students starting higher education in England in 2012 faced higher tuition fees, potentially higher loan interest rates and longer loan durations. The Government has also introducing a new 'core and margin' model which introduces an element of competition into the allocation of student numbers between institutions. The impact of these changes on potential students and student numbers is seen as one key test of the success of the Government's reforms to higher education in England. The number of new students is expected to fall in 2012 as it did when fees were first introduced and then raised in the past. Any long term change to student numbers would also have important implications for the financial health of the higher education sector and the UK economy.
01.03.2013	HE in England from 2012: Funding and finance
	The Government raised the cap on tuition fees for new student to £9,000 in 2012/13 and cut most ongoing direct public funding for tuition in England. This shifted the balance of higher education funding further away from the state and further towards the individual who benefits. Students can take out publicly subsided student loans to pay these higher fees. There is uncertainty about the final size of this subsidy and hence the extent of the shift in funding from the state to the individual beneficiary.
22.02.2013	Oxbridge 'elitism'
	Interest in the background of students who go to Oxford and Cambridge is very longstanding. The 1852 Royal Commissions on both universities identified access by poorer students as an important and longstanding issue. The debate about elitism at Oxford and Cambridge has tended to focus on a single indicator -the proportion of students accepted from state schools- and particularly whether it has gone up or down in the latest year. This gives a limited view only. A fuller picture needs more context, including longer term trends in this indicator, rates of entry for other under-represented groups, data on other prestige universities and a better understanding of the types of state schools that send pupils to Oxbridge. Both universities now take more than half of their entrants from state schools, if overseas entrants are excluded. These rates are generally increasing, but the historical data shows that progress has been slow.
30.01.2013	Entrants to higher education
	The number of students applying to university through UCAS has increased for many years. The main exceptions were when tuition fees were introduced (1998), 'variable' fees meant they were increased (2006) and when the cap on fees was lifted to £9,000 in England in 2012. In 2012 the number of applicants fell by around 47,000 (6.6%) and the number of acceptances by around 27,000 (5.5%). There were larger percentage falls among students who will be liable for higher fees; and the largest drop among older applicants (who could avoid higher fees by starting earlier) and students from the EU (who could avoid higher fees by studying elsewhere).
17.01.2013	The value of student maintenance support
	Maintenance grants, maintenance loans levels and income thresholds were all frozen in England at 2009/10 levels in 2010/11 and 2011/12. Maximum grant levels for new students from England were increased by 12% in 2012/13 and maximum loan levels by 11%. There were also changes to income thresholds in 2012/13 and loans were extended to part-time students. Those starting in 2012 are be the first to come under the new funding arrangements and be liable for tuition fees of up to £9,000 per year. The maximum grant will increase by just over 3% in 2013/14, all other rates will be frozen at 2012/13 levels.

Research Papers

Date	Description
05.05.2011	Education Bill: Committee Stage Report
	This is an account of the House of Commons Committee Stage of the Education Bill. It complements Research Paper 11/14, prepared for the Commons Second Reading debate, which examines the range of matters covered by the Bill. As originally presented, the Bill sought to make provision relating to the National Assembly for Wales' framework powers. However, these clauses were removed from the Bill following the 'yes' vote in the Welsh Devolution Referendum. A Government amendment to clause 13 (reporting restrictions on alleged offences by teachers) was agreed to without a vote. This inserted new schedule 11B into the Education Act 2002, and was introduced to secure compliance with a European Electronic Commerce Directive. Several minor and technical Government amendments were also made to the Bill. The Opposition tabled many amendments, a considerable number of which were pressed to a division, but none was successful.
07.02.2011	Education Bill [Bill 137 of 2010-11]
	This paper has been written for the House of Commons Second Reading debate on the Education Bill [Bill 137] on 8 February 2011. The Bill seeks to implement the legislative proposals in the Department for Education's schools White Paper, 'The Importance of Teaching', and measures from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills relating to skills and the reform of higher education funding. It is therefore a very wide-ranging Bill.
18.12.2007	Sale of Student Loans Bill Committee Stage Report, Bill 13 of 2007-08
	Sale of Student Loans Bill Committee Stage Report. (Bill 13 of 2007-08). House of Commons Library Research Paper 07/92.
15.11.2007	Sale of Student Loans Bill, Bill 6 of 2007/08.
	Sale of Student Loans Bill. (Bill 6 of 2007/08). House of commons Library Research Paper 07/78.
21.01.2004	Higher Education Bill (Bill 35 2003/04)
	Higher Education Bill. (Bill 35 of 2003/04). House of Commons Library Research Paper 04/08.

Select Committee Reports

Date	Description
13.03.2012	Modernisation of higher education in Europe.
	European Union Select Committee (HL) report [Lords]
20.10.2011	Student visas follow-up report.
	Government response. Home Affairs Select Committee report [Commons]
18.07.2011	Student visas follow-up report.
	Government response. Home Affairs Select Committee report [Commons]
11.05.2011	Regulating financial sustainability in higher education.
	Public Accounts Committee report [Commons]
15.03.2011	Student visas.
	Home Affairs Select Committee report [Commons]

Early Day Motions

Date	Description
15.12.2011	MASTERS DEGREE IN SIGN LANGUAGE
	That this House congratulates Heriot-Watt University on becoming the first in Scotland to offer a full-time MA in British Sign Language (BSL); notes with concern that there are only ...
30.11.2011	STEVE ROBERTSON MBE
	That this House expresses sadness at the death of Scottish comedy star Steve Robertson MBE; believes that he will be remembered with great affection as one-third of the Scotland The ...
28.11.2011	EDWARD BAUER, THE RIGHT TO PROTEST AND FREEDOM OF SPEECH
	That this House notes the Birmingham University Guild of Students is running disciplinary proceedings against Edward Bauer, the elected Sabbatical Vice President (Education) of the ...
10.10.2011	PROPOSED MERGER OF SCOTTISH UNIVERSITIES
	<p>That this House condemns proposals put forward by the Scottish Government in Holyrood to force Scottish universities to merge and in so doing undermining their academic and administrative ...
27.06.2011	FOR-PROFIT UNIVERSITIES
	That this House is concerned by the possible expansion of for-profit providers in the higher education sector; is further concerned that the world-class teaching and research of the ...

Lords Library Notes

Date	Description
09.06.2011	Education Bill (HL Bill 67 of 2010-12)
	This Library Note provides information for the second reading of the Education Bill in the House of Lords.

POST Papers

Date	Description
01.01.2007	Strategic science, January 2007
	Strategic science, January 2007. POSTnote 07/277.