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Elite universities plough £9bn into facilities to keep up with Asia rivals
The Russell Group report, headlined around plans for £9bn investment in capital and infrastructure projects, is academically spot on in terms of its arguments for more funding, but may be a long way from political reality.
The Group’s arguments are compelling. The UK already spends a lower proportion of GDP on higher education than our rivals and our universities are already doing more with less. Government used to provide nearly half the capital funding just a few years ago, and now it is just over 10%, with ¾ coming from the Universities’ own internal reserves, and the rest from a mix of other sources. A real sea change and, they say, not sustainable in the longer term.
But with national debt servicing forecast by many to be greater than the overall cost of the NHS by 2017, is there really going to be a role reversal? Is financial austerity going to be a thing of the past? Will spending on schools be the junior partner to spending on universities? This political reality paints a different picture.
Although political parties will all have slightly different pitches, the bonanza in Higher Education of centrally-funded spending over the preceding decade or so is not going to reappear, at least for years to come. A different model, with a different ‘funding cocktail’ is likely to emerge, with industry collaboration and private sector capital funding taking on an even higher proportion of overall cost.
In fact, many universities are already latching on to this. They are being more creative and business-focused on their “investment strategies” and we anticipate many will also need to be more hard nosed in determining which courses they deliver.
Profit and employability are two words which are now in common parlance – the balance between sustainable profit and quality is the dialogue now in many higher education institutions, and the balance between today’s tuition fees and tomorrow’s employment prospects is the equivalent for students and parents.
Two further words which are also now more resonant are efficiency and effectiveness. These are the key focal points for the Diamond 2 review, the follow up to Sir Ian Diamond’s initial report around Efficiency and Modernisation in the Higher Education sector.
This time, there is an explicit focus on the estate, campus environment and overall facilities. Sir Ian is garnering evidence on making better use of estates as one component of his report to be submitted in February next year. The Russell Group’s investment plans are bound to be a key feature, with the 24-strong Group representing around half the overall Higher Education estate in terms of space.
Working with many of the Russell Group universities, EC Harris is contributing to that debate and to support the sector’s case for change. Our own proposition, around Benefits Based Masterplanning, is part and parcel of that change agenda, helping universities focus on better, more productive use of space, and to more fully apply business principles.
This doesn’t put quality issues on the sidelines, far from it, but it does introduce more forcefully the business imperatives to demonstrate that efficiency and effectiveness need to work together, not apart.
The Group’s arguments are compelling. The UK already spends a lower proportion of GDP on higher education than our rivals and our universities are already doing more with less. Government used to provide nearly half the capital funding just a few years ago, and now it is just over 10%, with ¾ coming from the Universities’ own internal reserves, and the rest from a mix of other sources. A real sea change and, they say, not sustainable in the longer term.
But with national debt servicing forecast by many to be greater than the overall cost of the NHS by 2017, is there really going to be a role reversal? Is financial austerity going to be a thing of the past? Will spending on schools be the junior partner to spending on universities? This political reality paints a different picture.
Although political parties will all have slightly different pitches, the bonanza in Higher Education of centrally-funded spending over the preceding decade or so is not going to reappear, at least for years to come. A different model, with a different ‘funding cocktail’ is likely to emerge, with industry collaboration and private sector capital funding taking on an even higher proportion of overall cost.
In fact, many universities are already latching on to this. They are being more creative and business-focused on their “investment strategies” and we anticipate many will also need to be more hard nosed in determining which courses they deliver.
Profit and employability are two words which are now in common parlance – the balance between sustainable profit and quality is the dialogue now in many higher education institutions, and the balance between today’s tuition fees and tomorrow’s employment prospects is the equivalent for students and parents.
Two further words which are also now more resonant are efficiency and effectiveness. These are the key focal points for the Diamond 2 review, the follow up to Sir Ian Diamond’s initial report around Efficiency and Modernisation in the Higher Education sector.
This time, there is an explicit focus on the estate, campus environment and overall facilities. Sir Ian is garnering evidence on making better use of estates as one component of his report to be submitted in February next year. The Russell Group’s investment plans are bound to be a key feature, with the 24-strong Group representing around half the overall Higher Education estate in terms of space.
Working with many of the Russell Group universities, EC Harris is contributing to that debate and to support the sector’s case for change. Our own proposition, around Benefits Based Masterplanning, is part and parcel of that change agenda, helping universities focus on better, more productive use of space, and to more fully apply business principles.
This doesn’t put quality issues on the sidelines, far from it, but it does introduce more forcefully the business imperatives to demonstrate that efficiency and effectiveness need to work together, not apart.
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