Minister plans incentives for improving teaching

The new Minister for Universities and Science, Jo Johnson, has pledged to bring in a teaching excellence framework that creates incentives for universities to raise the quality of teaching.

He committed himself to meeting the prime minister’s target of doubling the proportion of disadvantaged young people entering higher education by 2020 compared to 2009 levels.

And he promised to improve “value for money” for both students investing in their education and taxpayers underwriting the system.

The minister set out his plans to widen participation in higher education and drive up teaching quality in a speech addressed to Universities UK, the vice-chancellors’ body, in London on 1 July.

Johnson said a renewed focus on teaching was “vital unfinished business” from the reforms of the previous parliament.

He reiterated the observation by former universities and science minister David Willetts that “teaching has been by far the weakest aspect of English higher education” and said this must change.

“There must be recognition of excellent teaching – and clear incentives to make ‘good’ teaching even better,” he said, conceding that “some rebalancing of the pull between teaching and research is undoubtedly required”.

He wanted to build a culture where teaching has equal status with research, with great teachers enjoying the same professional recognition and opportunities for career and pay progression as great researchers.

He also aimed to stimulate a diverse higher education market and provide students with the information they need to judge teaching quality – in the same way they can already compare a faculty’s research rating.

“It is striking that while we have a set of measures to reward high quality research, backed by substantial funding (the Research Excellence Framework), there is nothing equivalent to drive up standards in teaching,” he said.

“That is why my priority as universities minister will be to make sure students get the teaching they deserve and employers get graduates with the skills they need by introducing the Teaching Excellence Framework we promised in our manifesto.”

He said he expected the Teaching Excellence Framework, or TEF, to include a clear set of outcome-focused criteria and metrics. This should be underpinned by an external assessment process undertaken by an independent quality body.

However, he also said that any external review had to be “proportionate and light touch, not big, bossy and bureaucratic”.

He said he wanted to work with Universities UK, the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education to design a framework that would have widespread support and work for the sector, students and taxpayers.

Johnson did not specify what incentives would be provided to universities in the TEF and it was notable that he did not mention whether these would be financial incentives.

There has been speculation that a TEF would be linked to a system of different rates of tuition fees.

According to Times Higher Education, a version of the speech delivered to the media in advance included a reference to financial incentives, but this was not included in the speech he delivered.

Ambitious target

On widening participation, he said the prime minister had set an ambitious target and the aim was that “anyone with potential to benefit from university should not be prevented from going because of their background or ability to pay”.

He said in particular he wanted to see more progress being made in the most selective institutions.

“I want to see more outreach and more innovation in terms of course length and design,” he said. “Degree Apprenticeships and two-year courses in particular offer a more accessible route to a higher education and a faster path to productive employment.”

He also said he expected the TEF to include incentives that reward institutions which do best at retention and progression of disadvantaged students through their college years.

“Those institutions that can demonstrate that they excel in teaching and in supporting all students – including those from disadvantaged backgrounds – through university into graduate jobs will reap rewards,” Johnson said.

Challenge of diversity

Responding to the speech, Nicola Dandridge, chief executive of Universities UK, said the vice-chancellors’ body would consider carefully how a new TEF could best add value to all students, whatever their choice of subject or university, and whatever their background and aspirations.

“The challenge is how to construct a single framework that can effectively respond to that tremendous diversity.”

However, she underlined that she also wanted to work with the government on other “substantial challenges” that universities are facing, including how to ensure they are adequately funded so that they can continue to deliver high-quality teaching and research.

She said Universities UK had that same day called on the government to link the tuition fee cap in England – which had been capped at £9,000 (US$14,000) since 2012-13 – to inflation to allow adequate funding for universities, and to increase funding for students’ living costs, which students say is a high priority for them.

“We also need to ensure that the UK’s immigration rules are reformed to ensure we are able to attract able and talented international students from around the world,” she said.

In the run-up to the emergency budget on 8 July and the spending review in the autumn, Universities UK has also called on government to invest in higher education and research. Last week, Universities UK warned that the UK’s world-leading universities and internationally renowned research would fall behind key competitors without sufficient and sustained investment.


COMMENT

Some welcome ideas. The only other thing is to bring more taxpayer money in and scrap the high fees.

Christopher Haggarty-Weir on the University World News Facebook page