HE Policy and the Skills Agenda

An introduction to the regional dimension

David Noyce

Regional Consultant

Higher Education Funding Council for England

September 2003

A strategy for skills

• Context

• HEFCE initiatives

• The regional picture: issues for the South West

Context

• Profile of skills set by HE White Paper• Government Skills strategy • Lambert Review of Business-University

Collaboration• Essential working together: a shared agenda

Future of Higher Education

• Development of skills important to individuals, businesses, regional and national economies; developed through:

– Workforce development in conjunction with business to raise skills at technical and professional levels and CPD

– Supplying students with the vocational skills for new expanding areas of the economy

– Integration of skills and attributes needed by employers into the mainstream curriculum

• Role of RDAs and Sector Skills Councils in articulating demand for skills

• Curriculum development role for employers

Government Skills Strategy

• Skills matter but insufficient investment

• Not new initiatives but a joined up framework focused on needs of employers and employees

• Focus on schools and further education but key messages for HE:

- Employability to be developed throughout the school curriculum- Skills for Business Network to identify and deliver skills needed

by business- Government’s Strategy and Innovation Unit is reviewing

‘generic skills’ across education system- Skills Alliance – will bring together partners to ensure

collaboration- FRESAs to address regional dimension to skills agenda

Lambert Review of Higher Education and Business Collaboration

• Articulating and meeting skills demand and collaboration in development of the curriculum

• Regional and local interaction inc role of RDAs and SSCs

• Specific skills shortages?• Lambert’s initial thoughts. Full report in October

2003

A shared agenda

• Many perspectives on ‘skills’, in and out of HE sector:

– FE sector/LSC –Strategic Area Reviews to meet local needs, responsibility for workforce development, progression from FE to HE sector and vice versa

– Widening Participation initiatives– Knowledge Transfer initiatives– HE curriculum and co-curriculum: careers staff, student unions, curriculum

developers– RDAs and business sector organisations– Employers and their representatives– Students

• But… challenge of overcoming differences of culture and language and the practical obstacles to engagement

HEFCE initiatives

• Foundation Degrees• Higher Education Innovation Fund 2• Knowledge Exchanges• Aimhigher: Partnerships for Progression• Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning

(CETLs)• Higher Education Academy• Higher Education Active Community Fund

The regional picture: issues for the South West

• Prevalence of SMEs• Graduate retention• Poor infrastructure (local HE Centres?)• Weak economic underpinning in parts (eg

Cornwall)• Skill shortages (eg health, tourism, creative

industries)• Progression and flexibility of HE provision

Foundation Degrees

• Growth in HE to be through 2 year work-focused Foundation degrees

– 10,000 Foundation Degree places for starters in 2004-05 or 2005-2006 – HEFCE Development funds - £8 million

• Regional input

– Regional allocation of funding, with reference to priorities of RDAs and SSCs

• Foundation Degree Forward (FDF)– Validation service for colleges– National centre of expertise; will work with RDAs and SSCs

• Marketing campaign – launch of DfES Foundation Degree Prospectus Oct 2003

The Higher Education Academy

• UK wide organisation whose mission will be to:

– Co-ordinate policy and practice to enhance the student experience– Provide advice to government and funding Councils – Support curriculum development across all HE activity– Facilitate professional development of all staff in HE

• Activities:– Provide national lead on quality enhancement policy– Dissemination and promotion of good practice– Institutional capacity building– Research, development and evaluation

• A national organisation, working with partner organisations including subject and professional organisations

• Funded by UK funding councils, owned by UUK and SCOP

Centres for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETLs)

• Aims: to reward and invest in good practice in teaching and learning

• £200,000– £500,000 available for each bid plus capital funding

• Institutions to identify their excellent provision - and build on it– CETLs offer institutions creativity to tell us what their CETL will do

e.g– problem based learning across Medical and Engineering schools– On line language learning feeding into programmes of study

• Regional spread could be considered at second stage of bidding process

• Dissemination of CETL in partnership with the HE Academy

Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF) 2

• Aims – Enable HE institutions to respond to the needs of business and the wider

community– Extend KT activity to less-research intensive institutions

• Total £187 million: 2004-05 and 2005-06

• Range of activity – will promote engagement with business inc. skills development :

– e.g. networking between education and business, development of ‘communities of practice’, entrepreneurship training, developing capacity to deliver CPD

• Increasing RDA role in directing resources; institutions’ proposals to fit with regional strategies for the economy

• Consultation – October 2003. Call for proposals Nov/Dec 2003. Funding from August 2004

Knowledge Exchanges

• Exemplars of good practice in knowledge transfer and skills development

• First 8 in 2004-05

• Links with NTIs; collaboration with HE/FE

• Partnering with e.g. Sector Skills and RDAs

• Up to 20 (£500k pa each for 5 years)

Higher Education Active Community Fund

• Currently in partnership with Home Office

• Student and staff volunteering opportunities; March 2002 to August 2004

Cumulative target: 14,000 new opportunities

• £27 million conditionally allocated across all English HEIs

• Awards from £10k to £500k

• Continuation funding under negotiation – at least £5 million per annum until next CSR