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

MINISTERIAL FOREWORD

The heart of the Dearing Committee’s vision of higher education is a compact between higher education and society which reflects their strong bond of mutual inter-dependence. The proposed compact has largely been lost in press discussion of the Dearing and Garrick Reports, which has tended to focus on the changes to student support. I want to take the opportunity of the Government’s response to the Garrick Report to emphasise my personal commitment to the compact.

I agree with Sir Ron Garrick’s Foreword to his Committee’s Report. He said that his Committee had, as a first priority, reasserted "the need to ensure that the quality and output of the Scottish system would be comparable with the best in the world". That is also the Government’s first priority for higher education in Scotland.

Excellence in higher education is at the root of Scotland’s future economic success; is crucial to improving the society we live in; and offers major opportunities for personal growth and development. All facets can be illustrated by the way in which our universities and colleges contribute to and inform debates on a wide variety of issues facing Scottish society. Our aim is that higher education should both flourish during the Government’s term in office and become more accessible to all sections of our society.

The Dearing Committee stressed that its proposals on funding were the main part of the compact which it expected the Government to meet. We have taken the difficult decision of introducing tuition fees for some students and moving to a system of maintenance based entirely on income contingent loans. Our proposals are a variation of one of the Dearing Committee’s illustrations. The variation means that about 40% of Scottish students are unlikely to pay any tuition fees, with only the wealthiest quarter or so paying the full £1,000. Moreover, we have accepted the Committee’s proposals for income contingent loans to improve the position faced by graduates in repaying their loans. In the longer term, our proposals will raise about an additional £140 million in Scotland. I believe that the additional funding will benefit further and higher education institutions.

In the short term, both our proposals and the others illustrated by the Dearing Committee will not raise much additional funding. However, for 1998-99, the Government has found an additional £17 million for the higher education sector in Scotland and an additional £8 million for the further education sector. It is a substantial increase in the face of pressures the Government face elsewhere on the Scottish block and a considerable improvement on the situation the Government inherited. I hope therefore that our commitment to the compact will be judged - at least in terms of funding - by the fact that we have increased funding in the short-term rather than wait until benefits from the new student support system accrue.

This document sets out the Government’s response to all of the Garrick Committee’s recommendations. It is being published in parallel with the response by the four Education Departments to the Dearing Report. To those in Scotland, however, the Garrick Report provides the main framework for the future of higher education. Nevertheless, we in Scotland have a close interest in many of the main Dearing recommendations.

The Government already has well in hand work on qualifications and improving the 6th year in Scottish schools. The Scottish Higher Education Funding Council have begun discussions with the new Quality Assurance Agency on piloting the new quality assurance process in Scotland. We also accept much of the Committee’s proposals on research and that we should establish a Further Education Funding Council. Finally, I also accepted in October the Committee’s recommendation concerning equity of tuition fees for Scottish qualified students taking longer courses in Scotland.

Taking forward the Committee’s recommendations on qualifications and quality will require institutions to meet their side of the compact. I do not expect that to happen overnight. A number of the measures will require additional resources. Moreover, the commitment of staff in institutions - not just senior managers - will need to be secured if the Committee’s proposals are to succeed.

The first changes will, of course, impact on students. Even though many students will not pay the full tuition fee themselves, I believe they will become more aware of the need to get added value from each year of their course. It will put pressure on institutions to demonstrate value and to be more flexible. As the Dearing Report suggests, there should be growing inter-dependence between institutions and students as they invest more directly in education.

I also believe that the compact should apply more widely between institutions and their local communities. The Dearing Committee endorses the concept of free-standing higher education institutions. However, the wider community - taxpayers - provide the largest source of income to these institutions. That means that their governing bodies should reflect that community, be inclusive and when necessary be accountable.

I am grateful to Sir Ron Garrick and his Committee for their work in producing such a comprehensive document in a comparatively short time. I look forward to working with the higher and further education sectors in implementing the agreed recommendations.

BRIAN WILSON MP