Post-16 white paper poor substitute for proper public funding

Responding to the government's post-16 white paper, UCU general secretary Jo Grady today said:

'This white paper presented a massive opportunity to properly invest in our great universities, which contribute £265 billion to the economy. Labour has instead double downed on the disastrous tuition-fees funding model, which created the crisis the sector is currently facing.

'The government must also stop attacking international students, who contribute so much to the sector, the economy, and Britain's soft power. It is scandalous ministers want to impose a levy on them. We should be rolling out the red carpet, not creating a hostile environment in a doomed attempt to appease Nigel Farage.

'Higher education desperately needs proper public funding alongside a managed system of student distribution. The government's failure to get a grip on the crisis afflicting the sector, and the devastating impact on jobs and course closures, is one of the reasons we are currently balloting over 65,000 staff for strike action across UK campuses.

'Turning every campus interaction into a metric to be ranked in a 'league table' will not improve student learning and punishing institutions deemed to need improvement will harm the very students the government claims to be trying to help. If it is serious about improving teaching quality it should help resolve the current dispute over low pay, vicious job cuts and the poor working conditions, and the impact this has on students' learning experience.'