A lot of students won’t be aware that the government is proposing a new bill for higher education or the consequences of this bill
A lot of students won’t be aware that the government is proposing a new bill for higher education or the consequences of this bill and the ‘Teaching Excellence Framework’ it contains. I don’t blame anyone who isn’t clued up because let’s face it - articles that ramble about the White Paper, the Green Paper, TEF and various other policy related terminology, can be both extremely boring and confusing.
To break it down and make it a little less confusing, and a little more interesting to those of you who aren’t necessarily interested in politics, as your Students’ Union, we will be supporting the National Demo: United for Education in London on November 19 against TEF (The Teaching Excellence Framework) and the HE bill. These are a few of the reasons why:
Fees Could Rise Considerably
If these policies go ahead, fees could reach £12,000 by 2026 and continue to increase, despite the fact that maintenance grants have now been scrapped. Following this fees will go up based on individual subject reviews, so science-based degrees may attract higher fees, for example.
This is dangerous because the degrees that cost more will be those that get better feedback not those that are actually better, it could also cause the degrees that attract lower fees to be seen as worthless to employers.
More Organisations Will Have Degree Awarding Powers
The government would be able to give out degree awarding powers at will, while also shutting down any organisations they deem unworthy of having them. This would continue the trend of companies such as Google giving out degrees and gradually reduce the value of degrees in general.
The ‘Office for Students’ Would Have No Student Representation
A new organisation called ‘The Office for Students’ would be created to help oversee the TEF but despite the name, this group currently contains no actual representation of student views or ideas. Despite organisations like the NUS raising this issue, the government have not reconsidered as of yet.
Unreliable Metrics and Scoring Methods Would Be Used
One of the main measures that would be used to score universities (and then raise fees accordingly) would be the NSS (National Student Survey) which very few students fill out. The NSS also contains a limited number of questions and is statistically biased towards white, male academics.
The other key metric would be whether students are employed in ‘graduate level employment’ six months after graduation. This would involve a salary of over £20,000 and as we all know it can be hard enough finding a good job that soon after graduation, even with a top degree.
Limitations of a Gold, Silver and Bronze Medal Grading System
Universities would be ranked as gold, silver or bronze which could pose problems, such as bronze institutions being unable to recruit international students as well as removing the validity of previously good reputations. Institutions like Royal Holloway would hopefully make the silver bracket.
Ultimately: The marketization of education is becoming increasingly apparent, education should instead be about students and their wellbeing.
We will be attending the demo as a Royal Holloway block and already have lots of student interest, take a look at the Facebook event for more information and feel free to get in touch.
Tasha Barrett, President, Education and Campaigns