Government caps student numbers

The Higher Education secretary has capped student places for the next two years as budget worries continue to plague universities.

John Denham told the Higher Education Funding Council that it should not issue any further additional student numbers for 2009-10 and 2010-11 while announcing funds allocated to the body would be £19m lower than stated in last year’s grant letter.

After a seven per cent rise between 2007 and 2008, the number of students accepted into full-time higher education is now at a record level. This caught the government unawares last year after it planned for an increase of half the size.

Universities now face severe financial penalties for “over-recruitment”, Denham said.

“Any over-recruitment in the coming year could result in a transfer of HEFCE grants back to this Department in that or future years, in order to meet the consequent unanticipated student support costs.”

At the start of the year, “over-recruitment” was much in evidence at Warwick, as many first-year undergraduates could not find on-campus accommodation.

The University has since said it does not plan any rise in undergraduate intake until 2014.

However, as the Institute for Fiscal Studies, a think tank, revealed that the British public sector will become £10,000 more indebted per family by 2014, Denham stressed “all agencies in the public sector will need to achieve the greatest possible value for money”.

Some universities are concerned they would be unable to afford any pay rises for their academics. The Universities and Colleges Union, the largest in higher education, has remained committed to a rise of eight per cent in salaries.

However, it is not clear if Higher Education faces a funding crunch. Public money allocated for research will still increase by 4.5 per cent while that for teaching will increase by 3.2 per cent.

The Conservatives said the government cannot now achieve its target of half of young people in higher education.

David Willetts, Shadow Universities’ Secretary, said: “We cannot hope to emerge from the recession in a competitive state until there is a clearer strategy for higher-level skills.”