The Higher Education and Research Act 2017 (c. 29) was enacted into law in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
by the Houses of Parliament on 27 April 2017.
It is intended to create a new regulatory framework for
higher education
Higher education is tertiary education leading to award of an academic degree. Higher education, also called post-secondary education, third-level or tertiary education, is an optional final stage of formal learning that occurs after completi ...
, increase competition and student choice, ensure students receive value for money, and strengthen the research sector.
The Act is a replacement for the
Further and Higher Education Act 1992
The Further and Higher Education Act 1992 made changes in the funding and administration of further education and higher education within England and Wales, with consequential effects on associated matters in Scotland which had previously been ...
and is intended to accommodate subsequent changes in the higher education sector.
Viscount Younger, the sponsor of the Bill in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
, called it "the most important legislation for the sector in 25 years",
a claim supported by
Universities UK
Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...
, who said that it is "the first major regulatory reform" to higher education in that period.
The Act is split into four parts: Part 1 establishes the
Office for Students
The Office for Students (OfS) is a non-departmental public body of the Department for Education, acting as the regulator and competition authority for the higher education sector in England.
In February 2021, James Wharton, Baron Wharton of Yarm ...
and gives it responsibilities for regulating the Higher Education sector; Part 2 amends prior legislation on student financial support and student complaints procedures; Part 3 establishes a body called
United Kingdom Research and Innovation
UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) is a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom that directs research and innovation funding, funded through the science budget of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Str ...
and gives it responsibilities for regulating and funding research; and Part 4 addresses miscellaneous issues such as transitional arrangements and
data sharing
Data sharing is the practice of making data used for scholarly research available to other investigators. Many funding agencies, institutions, and publication venues have policies regarding data sharing because transparency and openness are consid ...
.
Core provisions
Office for Students
The Office for Students (OfS) is established in the Act broadly as a replacement for the
Higher Education Funding Council for England
The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) was a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom, which was responsible for the distribution of funding for higher education to universities and further education colleges in Engla ...
. The Act details requirements for appointments of the board of directors – that they reflect a diverse range of members with experience of various aspects of higher education – and outlines the main responsibilities of the OfS, leaving specific details to be developed in
secondary legislation
Primary legislation and secondary legislation (the latter also called delegated legislation or subordinate legislation) are two forms of law, created respectively by the legislative and executive branches of governments in representative democra ...
. It emphasises that the OfS should be a market regulator and protector of student interests,
and specifies the post of Director for Fair Access and Participation (section 2). The Act abolishes of the official position of Director of Fair Access (section 82), meaning that the OfS will also replace the functions of the
Office for Fair Access
The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) was an independent public body in England that supported the Director of Fair Access to Higher Education in his or her work that was intended to safeguard and promote fair access to higher education. It approve ...
.
The Act also creates procedures for the OfS to grant degree-awarding powers to education providers, and also for granting the right of providers to use ''university'' in their titles,
which will ease entry to the Higher Education market. The regulatory powers granted to the OfS go as far as allowing it to apply for a warrant to enter universities' premises, and to revoke degree awarding powers and university status, even where these were issued by
Royal charter
A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, bu ...
under the previous system.
The OfS is also given a funding role, with the ability to make "grants, loans or other payments to the governing body of an eligible higher education provider", and that it may attach any terms and conditions to the payments "as the OfS considers appropriate".
United Kingdom Research and Innovation
United Kingdom Research and Innovation (UKRI), established in Part 3 of the Act, brings together the country's seven research councils,
replacing each of them with committees (while still using the term "councils" to refer to them) within UKRI.
It is intended to strengthen interdisciplinary research, advocate for the whole research sector, and pool resources such as management and datasets. It gives the government the ability to set the direction of future research by maintaining a level of control over budgets of the individual councils, while still allowing a level of autonomy on how money is allocated to research projects.
Alternative payments and the student complaints scheme
The Act amends previous legislation, replacing instances of the word "loan" with "loan, or alternative payment".
While not explicitly mentioned in the Act, this is to support the issuance of
sharia-compliant payments by the
Student Loans Company
The Student Loans Company (SLC) is an executive non-departmental public body company in the United Kingdom that provides student loans. It is owned by the UK Government's Department for Education (85%), the Scottish Government (5%), the Welsh ...
.
The
Office of the Independent Adjudicator
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education (OIA) is a company limited by guarantee and a registered charity which has been designated under the Higher Education Act 2004 to run the higher education student complaints scheme wi ...
's role in handling student complaints is expanded under Part 2 of the Act to cover any higher education provider on the OfS's register.
Introduction of the Bill
The Government published a
white paper
A white paper is a report or guide that informs readers concisely about a complex issue and presents the issuing body's philosophy on the matter. It is meant to help readers understand an issue, solve a problem, or make a decision. A white paper ...
titled ''Success as a Knowledge Economy'' on 16 May 2016. The paper proposed a new regulatory system, headed by an Office for Students, and gave more detail on the future of the recently-introduced
Teaching Excellence Framework
The Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework (TEF) is a controversial government assessment of the quality of undergraduate teaching in universities and other higher education providers in England, which may be used from 2020 to determine ...
(TEF), and how it would be linked with tuition fees. It also proposed merging the existing seven research councils into a single body, UK Research and Innovation. It proposed procedures for new providers entering the market, with substantially fewer hurdles. It also proposed a national register of students' unions, which would give students who encountered issues greater mechanisms for redress.
On 18 May 2016, the week after the publication of the white paper, the State Opening of Parliament Queen's speech announced new legislation "to support the establishment of new universities and to promote choice and competition across the higher education sector". The next day, the Higher Education and Research Bill had its first
reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
in the
United Kingdom House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the upper house, the House of Lords, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England.
The House of Commons is an elected body consisting of 650 mem ...
.
Passage through Parliament
The Bill was introduced to the Commons for its first reading by
Jo Johnson
Joseph Edmund Johnson, Baron Johnson of Marylebone, (born 23 December 1971) is a British politician who was Minister of State for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation from July to September 2019, as well as previously from 2015 to 2 ...
, the
Minister for Universities and Science. Even before the Bill's second reading, substantial opposition was forecast, with one
Vice-Chancellor
A chancellor is a leader of a college or university, usually either the executive or ceremonial head of the university or of a university campus within a university system.
In most Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth and former Commonwealth n ...
predicting that it would not get through the House of Commons without significant amendment, and
Gordon Marsden
Gordon Marsden (born 28 November 1953) is a Labour Party (UK), British Labour Party politician who served as the Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament for Blackpool South (UK Parliament constituency), Blackpool South from 1 ...
, the
Shadow Secretary for higher education, voiced concerns that the
Brexit Referendum
The United Kingdom European Union membership referendum, commonly referred to as the EU referendum or the Brexit referendum, took place on 23 June 2016 in the United Kingdom (UK) and Gibraltar to ask the electorate whether the country shoul ...
result meant that the Bill should be shelved.
At the
committee stage
In the United Kingdom an act of Parliament is primary legislation passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom.
An act of Parliament can be enforced in all four of the UK constituent countries (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Irelan ...
, amendments were proposed by the
Opposition
Opposition may refer to:
Arts and media
* ''Opposition'' (Altars EP), 2011 EP by Christian metalcore band Altars
* The Opposition (band), a London post-punk band
* ''The Opposition with Jordan Klepper'', a late-night television series on Comed ...
including the renaming of the Office for Students, requiring that de-registration of higher education providers be supported by secondary legislation and changing the metrics by which teaching is measured.
All opposition amendments were rejected at the Commons committee stage
and the Bill passed through the House of Commons after the third reading on 21 November.
The Bill was sponsored in the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
by Viscount Younger, and they made their own amendments to the Bill. They voted that there should be additional constraints for entry to the higher education market to prevent profit-motivated providers gaining access too easily, to the detriment of students and the sector. They also voted that the TEF should not be used to create a consolidated ranking of universities, and that its metrics should be subject to additional oversight.
The
snap general election meant that Parliament had to be
dissolved, and so the
Labour Party reached an agreement with the Government to vote for a version of the Bill with substantially reduced amendments as part of the
wash-up period
{{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022
The wash-up period is the last few days while a Parliament of the United Kingdom continues to sit after the Prime Minister has announced the date when Parliament will be dissolved so a general election can be held ...
. The linking of the TEF to tuition fees was to be delayed, but not prevented altogether, and the OfS would be required to consult the
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education
The Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) is the independent body that checks on standards and quality in UK higher education. It conducts quality assessment reviews, develops reference points and guidance for providers, and condu ...
before awarding the use of the ''university'' title.
The amended Bill was voted on in both houses on 27 April 2017, then received royal assent as the Higher Education and Research Act later that day.
Reception
As the Bill passed through parliament, it was widely criticised within the sector.
The
National Union of Students (NUS) were opposed to what they called the "marketisation of HE", stating that "a climate of competition will never be in students’ best interests", and were also concerned about the link between measured teaching quality and rises in tuition fees.
The amount of regulatory muscle given to the OfS, in having the authority to de-register universities, was criticised, as was the ease with which for-profit education providers could enter the market.
Baroness Wolf, previously an adviser to the government, expressed concern that "sweeping general legislation might make it easier to set up a really small, innovative, educationally wonderful institution, but it’s much more likely to mean we end up with the American-style catastrophe".
Nick Hillman
Nicholas Piers Huxley Hillman (known as Nick Hillman, born Banbury, Oxfordshire, 21 April 1972) is an English higher education policy adviser, previously a school history teacher and special adviser for the Conservatives. He has been the direct ...
of the
Higher Education Policy Institute
Higher may refer to:
Music
* The Higher, a 2002–2012 American pop rock band
Albums
* ''Higher'' (Ala Boratyn album) or the title song, 2007
* ''Higher'' (Ezio album) or the title song, 2000
* ''Higher'' (Harem Scarem album) or the title song ...
think tank
A think tank, or policy institute, is a research institute that performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Most think tanks are non-governmenta ...
has long been in favour of legislation to support new universities, but said that even he thought the speed with which they could be approved under the new legislation was "a risk too far".
Others have pointed to the lack of subject diversity that the likely influx private providers will offer.
Cambridge
Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...
professor Gill Evans stated that "they tend to go for what can be taught cheaply to a mass market", and that the majority of current private providers are only offering courses up to level 5, rather than full degrees.
The government has hit back at critics, with Jo Johnson saying existing universities are merely afraid of competition, and are "acting like bouncers deciding who should and should not be let into the club". The government position is that the increased competition, and the link between teaching quality and tuition fees, will force existing universities to improve.
Outside of the government, the legislation has had its supporters. Notably,
Universities UK
Universities UK (UUK) is an advocacy organisation for universities in the United Kingdom. It began life in the early 20th century through informal meetings of vice-chancellors of a number of universities and principals of university colleges and ...
and
GuildHE
GuildHE represents 57 higher education institutions in the UK, including universities, university colleges, further education colleges and specialist institutions. Member institutions include some major providers in professional subject areas ...
, both influential bodies representing university leadership, expressed their support in a joint letter to their respective members. They welcomed the change, stating that "current regulatory framework has not kept up" with changes within the HE sector.
Even the NUS, otherwise fierce critics of the changes, expressed support for the provision of sharia-compliant loans supported by the legislation.
References
{{reflist
External links
Bill Stages – Higher Education and Research Act 2017– UK Parliament
Higher Education and Research Act – as enacted– legislation.gov.uk
Collection: Higher Education and Research Bill– gov.uk
Success as a Knowledge Economy white paper– gov.uk
United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2017
2017 in education
Higher education in the United Kingdom
Research in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom Education Acts
Higher education law