Event Details

Overview

In recent years the UK’s higher education sector’s world-class standing has been put under considerable pressure by the impact of fewer resources and the accelerating standards of, and investment in, higher education globally. The Government’s white paper ‘Higher Education: Students at the Heart of the System’ (June 2011) outlines radical new measures designed to transform England’s higher education system, sustaining it in the long term whilst maintaining internationally competitive standards and delivering a better student experience.

Building on the recommendations of the Brown Review, the Government will increase graduates’ financial contribution to ensure institutions are well funded into the future, providing they respond to student choice and deliver a quality academic experience efficiently and with value for money. Seeking to foster competition and innovation amongst HE providers, the Government will free institutions from red-tape, enabling greater diversity in provision and more varied modes of learning, whilst also increasing the accountability of HE providers. Placing a renewed focus on high quality teaching, the Government will empower students by ensuring better information is provided on different courses, promoting student charters and feedback, and focusing on graduate outcomes.

The increase in graduates’ financial contribution, alongside a shrinking job market and greater global competition for jobs will also place England's universities under pressure to equip students with skills that exceed those currently acquired through their degree studies. Universities will be expected to redouble efforts to support students in developing, demonstrating and transferring the generic and knowledge based skills necessary to progress in the job market. Closer working between universities and graduate employers in the design of undergraduate courses and in facilitating invaluable structured work placements will also be vital to improving student employability.

At a time of enormous change in the higher education sector, this special annual symposium provides a valuable opportunity for higher education institutions to examine the Government’s reforms to shape a more dynamic and responsive higher education sector fit for the future, and consider how best to raise higher education quality and standards in the UK to better meet the needs of students and employers.

Delegates will:

• Assess the Government’s vision to shape a higher education sector fit for the future
• Consider how to maintain world-class quality and standards
• Examine how to secure a competitive edge through high quality teaching, improved accessibility and value for money
• Discuss how to work more closely with employers to increase student employability
• Explore how best to equip students with transferrable skills necessary for employment

Programme

Who Should Attend?

• HE Institutions and Alternative HE Providers
• HE Corporation
• Registrars and Senior University Administrators Faculty Deans
• Admissions Bodies
• Research Councils
• Schools and FE Colleges
• Careers Services and Advisers
• IAG Advisers
• Connexions Partnerships
• Key Strategic Partners (incl. HEFCE, UCAS, OFFA, BIS)
• Funding Bodies
• Local Authority Education Officers
• Representatives of Industry and
• Commerce
• Education Charities
• Lifelong Learning Practitioners
• Equal Opportunities Officers
• Access Officers
• Disability Practitioners
• Campaigning Organisations
• Third Sector Practitioners

“ Our reforms are designed to deliver a more responsive higher education sector in which funding follows the decisions of learners and successful institutions are freed to thrive; in which there is a new focus on the student experience and the quality of teaching and in which further education colleges and other alternative providers are encouraged to offer a diverse range of higher education provision. The overall goal is higher education that is more responsive to student choice, that provides a better student experience and that helps improve social mobility. ”
— ‘Higher Education: Students at the Heart of the System’, BIS White Paper, June 2011