Education Update - News November 2008

Published: 27th November 2008

Downturn hits overseas student numbers.
Grant Thornton has warned that many universities reliance on income from overseas students will be severely hit by the recent exchange rate fluctuations.

Grant Thornton have identified 11 institutions that depend on overseas students for more than 25 per cent of their teaching income and more than 15 per cent of their total income, which makes them particularly vulnerable to a downturn. Of these, seven would fall into the red if their overseas students income fell by 10 per cent.

Between January and October this year, the Indian rupee depreciated against the pound by 7.5 per cent but rose against the Australian dollar by 2 per cent, therefore studying in the UK has become more expensive for Indian students, while Australia has become cheaper. In the same period, China's yuan has appreciated against the currencies of the US, UK and Australia, but the costs in Australia have fallen most sharply.

As student fees are often paid directly by governments this could mean that students could be directed not to study in the UK.

Pensions shortfall?
At 31 March the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) had an estimated funding level of 77 per cent, a shortfall of £9 billion. Financial statements show that USS' assets are mainly in equities, meaning that it is affected by market fluctuations.

Up to March, USS' assets fell from £30.358 billion to £29.098 billion - but since then the markets have taken a real hammering. Since then USS seems to have lost about one third of its equity investments, about £8 billion.

Roll-out of new rule for foreign students
A delivery plan for the student tier of the immigration points system was announced this month. Under the new system, which will be rolled out from March next year, colleges and universities who want to teach non EEA nationals must have a license issued by the UK Border Agency. Licensed Institutions can then sponsor non EEA students to come to study in the UK.

From autumn 2009 the system will be tightened further with the colleges and universities having to report the student if they fail to enrol or miss more than ten sessions.

TRAC Guidance
The final version of guidance on adapting TRAC for use with Framework Programme projects has now been agreed with the European Commission and is available now on the BUFDG web pages.

Although this guidance has now been agreed at official level, it is still pending endorsement by the Commissioner. UniversitiesUK have written formally to the Commissioner in DG Research, seeking endorsement and it is expected that this will be confirmed in the next few weeks.

UniversitiesUK is to rerun a workshop on the use of TRAC in FP-7 in Manchester on December 3^rd. Places will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.

DIUS review
A review of universities requested by the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills, John Denham, published on November 12, 2008, has recommended the provision of more part-time degree courses, additional courses for students who fail to complete a degree course and extra help for foreign students. The review also recommends replacing the system of first, second and third class degrees as well as simplifying academic language for the benefit of students whose first language is not English. The review will be used as part of an overall consideration of tuition fees to be undertaken in 2009. It is hoped the review will help meet the Government's target of 50 per cent of school leavers entering tertiary education.

The REACH enforcement regulations 2008
The main aim of the REACH Regulation is to improve the identification of the intrinsic properties of over 30,000 chemical substances. It will make those who place chemicals in any form on the market responsible for providing information on them so that any hazards are understood and the risks associated with their use are properly managed. It therefore applies to manufacturers, importers, professional users and distributors of chemicals.

Pay rise woes
Swansea and Bolton Universities have confirmed that they will not pay their staff this month's 5% national pay rise.

Under the national pay deal, staff are due a rise in line with the retail prices index inflation figure, which at 5% is far higher than was envisaged when the deal was agreed in 2006.

UCU backs down
The UCU has retracted a briefing paper that heavily criticised INTO University Partnerships after the private sector company threatened to sue the trade union for libel over it's "Into the unknown" briefing.

Credit Frameworks
The Qualifications and Credit Framework is to enable learners to gain qualifications at their own pace from various sources and take modules with them should they change job. By 2010 all major vocational qualifications will be approved by sector skills councils and available in small, credit-based units.

FE could bring in low cost degrees.
David Collins of the AoC has produced a discussion paper on "Bachelor of Vocational Studies" degrees taught in colleges. To oversee quality, each participating college would operate under the umbrella of a National Skills University in the biggest validation programme of all time.

Benefits are that colleges would expand HE offerings; degrees would be completed in two years at a lower cost and employers would help design the programmes.