UCU responds to fee-free higher education report

The proposals are part of new report for the government on social mobility called Unleashing Aspiration that aims to increase the representation of people from non-traditional and poorer backgrounds at university. UCU today said while the report was right to focus on improving local access to higher education and funding support for part-time learners, swathing cuts by universities and colleges across the country meant there was no guarantee that potential students would be able to study local courses that most suited their talents.
 
Last week UCU revealed that over 4500 job cuts are being threatened across the higher education sector which would affect provision for over 80,000 students.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'This report is right to be looking at improving local access to higher education and ensuring that people of all backgrounds can reach university. The reality, however, is that there are areas of the country where certain subjects are not available any more due to cuts and closures by universities. One only has to look at the recent closure of the School of Health and Social Care at the University of Reading – which damaged local health care provision and flew in the face of national priorities to increase the number of trained social workers.
 
'Everyone wants students to have access to decent local courses but the facts are that unless there is a real choice locally these plans will see the richest choosing where and what they wish to study and those from poorer backgrounds denied the opportunity to make full use of their potential. Over the past decade, in England alone, nearly £3billion has been spent on measures to widen social class participation in higher education and we welcome the priority that has been given to this area. However, there has been little progress, despite a lot of hard work by some universities to attract and retain a wider range of students.
 
'If the government really wants to improve social mobility and remove the barriers that stop many from taking a place in higher education it should make education free for all those who would benefit.'