Higher Education for the 21st Century Response to the Garrick Report

8. WAY FORWARD

The Garrick Committee set out guidance on its priorities for action in terms of indicating the issues which it believes should be tackled immediately. This section sets out the action the Government has planned against each of the Committee’s headings.

Funding

The Committee identified a need for primary legislation on its proposals for student financing as a matter of priority. The Government has taken this forward and the Teaching and Higher Education Bill is now in Parliament. The new arrangements for student support should, subject to Parliamentary approval, be in place by academic year 1998-99.

The new student funding changes - in common with all of the funding options set out in the Dearing Committee Report - will only provide some additional funding for higher education in 1998-99. Within the expenditure plans for 1998-99, however, Scottish higher education institutions will benefit from an additional £17 million and the colleges from an additional £8 million. In addition, the Government will fund the new student support arrangements and improve assistance to poorer students by doubling access funds and extending them to part-time students.

Although some students will pay tuition fees direct to institutions, the saving to the Government on state funded tuition fees will largely be offset by higher costs of student support. Part of the Government’s proposals are that students should be eligible for higher maintenance loans.

Management and Governance

The Government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation that institutions need to take urgent action to make sure that they make best possible use of available resources. It looks to SHEFC to consult with institutions about the best way to improve benchmarking by the sector, and to take this forward without delay.

As Chapter 6 confirms the Government has also agreed with the Committee’s recommendation to create a Scottish Further Education Funding Council with a target date of April 1999. The Scottish Office will now, and the new Council will in future, consult with FEcolleges as indicated above.

Quality and Standards

Officials from The Scottish Office and SHEFC met representatives of the new QAA and the Scottish institutions in December to begin discussions on a new quality assurance regime for Scotland. The QAA intends to begin trials of the new regime in Scotland in 1998-99.

Qualifications

The Government recognises that the sector has considerable work in hand in taking forward the Dearing/Garrick proposals for a qualifications framework. It has asked SHEFCas one of its priorities for 1998-99 to ensure that its funding methodology encourages educationally desirable change, such as a flexible approach to enable learners to join courses at the stage appropriate to their prior qualifications and courses with new exit points.

Admissions

The Scottish Office continues to work with the higher education providers and their representative bodies to improve the interface between school and higher education studies. Higher education representatives are involved at all levels of the Higher Still programme including the Implementation Group and those groups considering the content of individual courses. The Higher Still Higher Education Sector Group provides specific advice to the Implementation Group on issues affecting the sector. Both The Scottish Office and COSHEP will be partners in the Advisory Group on a Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework.