More Means Better: 50 Years of
Higher Education
Roderick Floud
Provost, Gresham College
1
My career
• Taught at University College London, Cambridge, Birkbeck College
London and held Visiting Chair at Stanford.
• Head of University for 18 years
• Member, Economic and Social Research Council, 1993-1997
• Founder Convenor, London Higher Education Consortium, 19992001
• President of Universities UK, 2001-2003
• Vice-President of European University Association, 2005-2007
• Chair of Social Sciences Committee of European Science
Foundation, 2007-2014
• Member of British Academy, AcSS and Academia Europaea and
holder of seven honorary degrees and fellowships
• Published 50 books and articles on economic history
2
1964-2014 and 2014-2064
• The Robbins Report and “More will mean
worse” (Kingsley Amis).
• What has happened since 1964.
• British higher education in 2014 and what
needs to happen now.
3
1964-2014
• More of everything: – More students in more universities
– More women
– More part-time students
– More research
– More European teaching and research
– The world
• More has meant better
4
Emerging from recession: Guardian
2/5/14
5
More students
• “Throughout our Report we have assumed as
an axiom that courses of higher education
should be available for all those who are
qualified by ability and attainment to pursue
them and who wish to do so.” Robbins Report
1963
6
Students in tertiary education, Great
Britain, 1900 - 2011
2500000
2000000
1500000
1000000
500000
0
1900 1924 1938 1954 1962 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Source: 1900-1962 Robbins Report; 1999-2011 UNESCO
7
Participation in HE (% of age-group)
Year
Participation rate
1870
1
1902
1
1938
2
1954
3
1962
4
2004
28
2013
34
8
More women
The % of graduates who are women
Country
Bachelor’s degree
Doctoral degree
Iceland
69%
44
Portugal
60%
62%
OECD average
59%
46%
UK
57%
45%
USA
57%
53%
China
47%
44%
Japan
44%
28%
Source: OECD, data for 2010
9
The “little woman” wins a Nobel prize
in 1964
10
Male and female participation rates:
England
Source: HEFCE 2013, ‘Trends in young participation in higher education’
11
More part-time students
Source: Eurostudent 2006
12
Fall in participation of part-time students
Part-time undergraduates in England,
2008 - 2013
300000
250000
200000
150000
100000
50000
0
2008-09
2009-10
2010-11
2011-12
2012-13
Part-time undergraduates
Source: Derived from HEFCE 2013, ‘Trends in young participation in higher
education’
13
More research
14
Strength of the UK research base
15
More Europe
• The European Higher Education and
Research Areas:
– The Bologna Process
– EU framework programmes, Horizon 2020
and the European Research Council
– The European Science Foundation/Science
Europe
16
The world
Enrolment in Tertiary Education
160000000
140000000
120000000
World
100000000
80000000
Developed countries
60000000
40000000
North America and
Western Europe
20000000
Source: UNESCO
0
1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
17
The UK is extraordinarily attractive to
international students
Global % share of international student market
Top 10 countries
18.00%
16.00%
14.00%
12.00%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
USA
UK
GER
FRA
AUS
CAN
(2010)
RUS
JPN
CHN
NZ
Source: OECD 2013, ‘Education at a Glance’
18
Dependence on overseas – ie not UK
or EU -students
• 20-30% overseas students (28)
– Aston, Brunel, Cardiff Metropolitan, Courtauld Institute, HeriotWatt, Queen Mary, RAM, RCA, RCM, Royal Holloway, City, Bath,
Cambridge, East Anglia, Edinburgh, Essex, Exeter, Lancaster,
Leicester, Liverpool, Manchester, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield,
Sunderland, Surrey, Sussex, Warwick,
• 30-40% overseas students (6)
– Glyndwr, Imperial, SOAS, Buckingham, UCL, Univ. of Arts
• 40-50% overseas students (3)
– LSE, School of Hygiene, St. Andrews
• > 50% overseas students (1)
– LBS
19
More has meant better
• “This expansion has not been accompanied by
any lowering of standards but rather the
reverse.” Robbins Report 1963
20
2014 - 2064
• Expansion will continue
• Mess, muddle or omnishambles
• What needs to be done: – Too many universities, doing too many things
– Specialisation and the reduction of duplication
– Proper funding of research
– Fund, not fund raise
21
Young entry rates to higher education
100
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Source: OECD 2013, ‘Education at a Glance’
22
Expansion will continue
18-yr old Participation
rate
England
Scotland
Wales
36%
35%
34%
33%
32%
31%
30%
29%
28%
27%
26%
25%
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
Source: HEPI 2013, ‘The impact on demand of the Government’s reforms of
higher education’
23
Mess, muddle or omnishambles
• “it is difficult to defend the continued absence
of co-ordinating principles and of a general
conception of objectives.”
• … “the needs of the present and still more of
the future demand that there should be a
system.” Robbins Report 1963
24
Too many universities, doing too many
things
25
Universities as hoteliers
Major Banks - Branches of Santander & Barclays Restaurants –
le Gusta oven & bar, the Dirty Duck, Xananas - to name a few
Bars – the terrace bar, Arts Centre café bar Coffee shops –
Curiositea, Costa Coffee Shops – the Bookshop, Costcutter,
Student Union Market Post Office – located within Costcutter
Hairdressers - Thompson & Murray Hair and Beauty Pharmacy
26
Universities as bus companies
27
Specialisation and the reduction of
duplication
28
Research funding in the UK
• The state through “dual support”:
– The Higher Education Funding Councils
– The Research Councils
• Charities – e.g. Wellcome, Nuffield, Rowntree,
Leverhulme, Cancer Research UK, etc.
• Europe
• Private industry
29
Proper funding of research?
University
Change in share of research funds, 19952014 (Percentage points)
UCL
+ 3.2
Imperial
+ 2.8
Oxford
+ 1.7
KCL
+ 1.0
Bristol, Cambridge, Durham, Reading,
Southampton, York
+ 0.1 to + 0.9
Birmingham, Lancaster, Leeds, Leicester,
Liverpool, LSE, Manchester, Newcastle,
Nottingham, Sheffield, Surrey, Sussex,
Warwick
- 0.1 to -0.9
Overall change
+ 6.0
30
Fund, not fund-raise
31
Higher education on the cheap
Public investment in HE as
percentage of GDP
Private investment in HE as
percentage of GDP
Source: OECD 2013, ‘Education at a Glance’
32
Conclusion
• A great British success story – 2.8% of British GDP and
export earnings of £10.7 billion p.a.
• But also a mess and a muddle
• We need to take a fresh look – a new Robbins report
• Meanwhile:
–
–
–
–
Fewer universities
Specialise
Reform research funding
Forget fund-raising and
• Fund British higher education properly
33