Higher Education: Finance

(asked on 19th June 2020) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reason values of the continuation rate of =90 per cent and the skilled employment/further study rate of =75 per cent as minimum qualifying thresholds for higher education establishments to bid for funding for 5,000 non-health care places were chosen in place of indicators available from the Teaching Excellence Framework.


Answered by
Michelle Donelan Portrait
Michelle Donelan
Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology
This question was answered on 24th June 2020

The process for bidding for the additional 5,000 non healthcare places, the details of which were published 1 June, is for one year only. The intention is that it is simple, competitive and places minimal burden on higher education providers.

The Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) Year Four data was used, as it provides a comprehensive overview of quality measures for higher education providers in England, including continuation and high-skilled employment/further study metrics. It is publicly available and requires no additional aggregation or calculation, ensuring transparency. Other data sources are or will be available, but do not average across multiple years of data as is done in TEF.

The combination of the continuation rate of =90 per cent and the skilled employment/further study rate of =75 per cent as minimum qualifying thresholds, ensures that the 5,000 places are awarded on a competitive basis, by restricting eligibility to only the top performing providers.

The methodology used for student number controls more broadly, already allows for the substantial growth forecast by the sector, plus another 5%. This allows providers to increase their student numbers compared to previous years.

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