HC Deb 02 July 1981 vol 7 cc448-55W
Sir William van Straubenzee

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what announcement the University Grants Committee has made to universities about grants for the academic year 1981–82.

11. Mr. Mark Carlisle

The University Grants Committee has announced universities' recurrent grants for the academic year 1981–82 as shown in column 2 of the table following, and equipment and furniture grants for that year as shown in column 5.

As an aid to planning the UGC has also given universities a provisional indication of what their grant might be for the academic years 1982–83 and 1983–84 on the basis of a total reduction in recurrent grant for home and European Community students by 1983–84 of 8½ per cent. below the levels planned in Cmnd. 7841. This accords with the overall level of reduction in resources for higher education set out in Cmnd. 8175. These provisional indications are subject to review in the light of decisions yet to be taken about the exact apportionment of the resources available to higher education as a whole in these years, and of any further consideration which the committee may wish to give to distribution within whatever resources are available for the universities.

The table also shows the target home and European Community student numbers for each university which the UGC regards as consistent with the grants and provisional indications now being announced.

Following is the text of a letter the chairman of the UGC has sent to all universities.

Recurrent Grant (1981–82 price base) Equipment and Furniture Grant
University or College 1981–82 1982–83 (tentative) 1983–84 (tentative) 1981–82
£ million £ million £ million £
Aston 12.02 10.77 9.86 1,222,000
Bath 8.88 8.77 8.69 1,130,370
Birmingham 27.83 26.61 25.69 2,442,000
Bradford 11.91 10.60 9.64 1,025,000
Bristol 20.91 20.06 19.43 1,625,000
Brunel 10.16 9.48 8.99 810,588
Cambridge 30.03 29.39 28.91 3,072,260
City 9.22 8.66 8.24 568,000
Durham 12.13 11.94 11.60 845,100
East Anglia 11.71 10.95 10.28 611,000
Essex 6.09 5.73 5.47 515,000
Exeter 10.77 10.15 9.69 685,730
Hull 10.17 9.60 9.19 585,000
Keele 7.04 6.23 5.64 355,000
Kent 7.42 6.97 6.64 662,470
Lancaster 9.36 8.97 8.68 631,660
Leeds 30.86 29.63 28.72 2,852,580
Leicester 12.29 12.09 11.95 981,000
Liverpool 28.21 27.01 26.13 2,092,370
London Graduate School of Business Studies 1.30 1.41 1.49 100,490
London University 181.02 171.76 16503 14,710,600
Loughborough 12.30 12.11 11.98 1,477,800
Manchester Business School 0.97 0.90 0.84 14,000
Manchester 34.53 33.03 31.93 3,497,370
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology 13.35 12.04 11.08 1,802,000
Newcastle 22.03 21.35 20.85 2,835,590
Nottingham 19.49 18.84 18.36 1,845,000
Oxford 31.33 30.41 29.74 2,936,940
Reading 13.64 13.07 12.66 1,488,000
Salford 11.85 9.97 8.59 814,790
Sheffield 23.25 22.37 21.72 2,132,000
Southampton 17.47 16.97 16.60 1,755,000
Surrey 10.15 9.36 8.78 928,400
Sussex 10.27 9.66 9.21 898,000
Warwick 12.01 11.56 11.23 851,000
York 7.11 7.06 7.02 595,000
Total England 699.08 665.48 640.55 61,394,108
Aberystwyth U. C. 7.34 6.94 6.65 594,880
Bangor U. C. 8.07 7.65 7.34 645,000
Cardiff U. C. 12.48 11.98 11.61 1,091,000
St. David's, Lampeter 1.18 1.16 1.14 39,830
Swansea U. C. 9.81 9.30 8.92 901,000
Welsh National School of Medicine 4.91 4.80 4.71 300,000
University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology 6.30 5.89 5.60 600,520
University of Wales, Registry 1.76 1.73 1.70 .
Total Wales 51.85 49.45 47.67 4,172,230
Aberdeen 17.24 16.06 15.19 1,218,000
Dundee 11.41 10.90 10.53 805,000
Edinburgh 31.50 30.75 30.20 2,710,000
Glasgow 30.76 30.20 29.56 2,205,000
Heriot-Watt 7.52 7.27 7.09 768,000
St. Andrews 8.25 7.82 7.51 475,000
Stirling 5.96 5.45 5.08 265,000
Strathclyde 16.05 15.27 14.69 2,144,470
Total Scotland 128.69 123.72 119.85 10,590,470
Total Great Britain 879.62 838.65 808.07 76,156,808

Home and EC full-time students
1983–84 (or 1984–85) Comparable 1979–80
University or College Arts Science Medicine Total Total
Aston 1,080 2,560 — 3,640 4,670
Bath 1,030 2,230 — 3,260 3,190
Birmingham 3,840 2,790 1,140 7,770 7,750
Bradford 1,400 2,130 — 3,530 4,360
Bristol 2,930 2,620 840 6,390 6,650
Brunel 850 1,620 — 2,470 2,460

Home and EC full-time students
1983–84 (or 1984–85) Comparable 1979–80
University or College Arts Science Medicine Total Total
Cambridge 5,090 4,340 850 10,280 10,490
City 590 1,430 — 2,020 2,130
Durham 2,840 1,520 — 4,360 4,530
East Anglia 2,560 1,080 — 3,640 3,760
Essex 1,400 750 — 2,150 2,240
Exeter 3,170 1,430 — 4,600 4,690
Hull 3,120 1,080 — 4,200 5,070
Keele 1,570 660 — 2,230 2,680
Kent 2,320 860 — 3,180 3,430
Lancaster 2,980 940 — 3,920 4,210
Leeds 4,070 4,160 1,040 9,270 9,430
Leicester 2,430 1,260 510 4,200 4,340
Liverpool 2,850 3,060 1,000 6,910 7,060
London Graduate School of Business Studies 290 — — 290 170
London University 11,470 12,350 8,400 32,220 33,510
Loughborough 2,100 2,450 — 4,550 4,670
Manchester Business School 170 — — 170 120
Manchester 4,570 3,630 1,510 9,710 9,930
University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology 690 2,290 — 2,980 2,790
Newcastle 2,480 3,060 1,060 6,600 6,380
Nottingham 2,470 3,040 640 6,150 6,380
Oxford 6,300 3,450 660 10,410 10,700
Reading 2,330 2,440 — 4,770 5,030
Salford 740 2,010 — 2,750 3,940
Sheffield 3,150 2,820 890 6,860 6,860
Southampton 2,460 2,560 640 5,660 5,690
Surrey 620 1,850 — 2,470 2,880
Sussex 2,440 1,270 — 3,710 3,890
Warwick 3,110 1,440 — 4,550 4,600
York 1,960 1,130 — 3,090 3,100
Total England 93,470 82,310 19,180 194,960 204,280
Aberystwyth U. C. 1,820 890 — 2,710 2,940
Bangor U. C. 1,250 1,020 — 2,270 2,580
Cardiff U. C. 2,560 1,460 360 4,380 4,680
St. David's, Lampeter 690 — — 690 710
Swansea U. C. 1,740 1,490 — 3,230 3,340
Welsh National School of Medicine — 80 610 690 680
University of Wales Institute of Science and Technology 800 1,360 — 2,160 2,400
University of Wales, Registry — — — — —
Total Wales 8,860 6,300 970 16,130 17,330
Aberdeen 2,470 1,860 610 4,940 5,140
Dundee 950 770 760 2,480 2,490
Edinburgh 4,310 3,310 1,220 8,840 8,830
Glasgow 3,780 3,640 1,390 8,810 9,100
Heriot-Watt 400 1,720 — 2,120 2,430
St. Andrews 1,680 950 250 2,880 3,110
Stirling 1,460 560 — 2,020 2,470
Strathclyde 2,390 3,150 — 5,540 5,790
Total Scotland 17,440 15,960 4,230 37,630 39,360
Total Great Britain 119,770 104,570 24,380 248,720 260,970
Full-time equivalent of part-time degree and diploma, extra-mural and continuing education students 45,480 43,020

"Grant for 1981–82 and guidance for succeeding years

1. I am writing to let you know the results of the University Grants Committee's consideration of grant for 1981–82 and to give what guidance is now possible for succeeding years. As you will be aware from my letters of 30 December 1980 and 15 May 1981, the Committee has been grappling for some months with the problems of how the present university system might be reshaped within the financial constraints determined by Government for the period up to 1983–84 (as set out in Cmnd. 8175). The aim of a revised system should be to offer good educational opportunities to students of all ages who may enter it, as well as career prospects and research opportunities for its staff.

2. In its deliberations the Committee has had to weigh many competing claims for the diminished resources; for example between subjects, between institutions, between teaching and research, between innovation and the continuance of existing areas of work, between provision of student places and likely demand, and between student numbers and quality of education. There is of course no single definitive solution to these problems, partly because the rate at which resources are being removed from the university system necessarily leads to disorder and diseconomy whatever path of change is followed, and partly because reductions in resources are being imposed at a time when demand for university education is still rising.

3. The Committee has received much useful information and advice from its Sub-Committees, from individual universities (where we have paid particular attention to the response to our letters of 15 October 1979 and 30 December 1980), from Research Councils and other funding bodies, from the Royal Society and the British Academy, from the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals (CVCP), the AUT and the NUS, from employers of graduates, and from many other organisations and individuals. We are very grateful to all of those who have offered advice but for our conclusions the Committee alone is responsible.

4. Any estimate of the overall loss of recurrent resources between 1979–80 and 1983–84 is subject to numerous uncertainties but it probably will lie in the range 11 per cent. (a minimum estimate by the UGC) and 15 per cent (as suggested by the CVCP). It is the Committee's view that the university system as a whole should not be asked, with this reduction in funding, to maintain its home and European Community (EC) student numbers at the 1979–80 levels, and a reduction of about 5 per cent. is therefore assumed, although this may not be achieved until 1984–85. The reduction in student numbers by 1983–84 is expected to be in the range 3 to 5 per cent. As to the unit of resource, it will be seen that the Committee envisaged an average worsening of about 10 per cent (including some decline at all universities) and this figure should be borne in mind when considering the Committee's guidance below on individual subject areas.

The guidance in this letter refers to the system generally; there are significant variations in the advice to individual universities. I am writing separately to each institution to give specific advice and in some cases to ask for further consultation. In all the comparisons which follow, the base year is taken as 1979–80.

Arts

For the arts generally, a slightly greater than average cut in numbers is proposed, but there are many subject areas which require further consideration by individual universities. The Committee has noted for example that the teaching of foreign langauges is widely distributed throughout the system, with only small numbers of students in some cases. The Committee wishes to preserve the range of languages but is conscious of the danger that, without co-ordination, the study of some minority languages might disappear entirely under the pressure of adjustments to reduced resources. In these and similar circumstances, the Committee hopes that universities will enter into discussions among themselves and with the Committee to consider how provision might be sustained.

In social studies the Committee recommends a substantial reduction in student numbers with the aims both of improving the staff-student ratio which in many universities is disproportionately low, and of strengthening the opportunities for and quality of research.

For education the Committee cannot give firm guidance in terms of target numbers for PGCE and B Ed courses until the Government has determined total manpower targets. The Committee regards it as inevitable however that there will be some reduction in present numbers; universities are advised to await further guidance before determining their intakes for 1982–83. The Committee hopes that higher degree work, research, and courses of in-service training for teachers can be maintained and has made provision accordingly.

A small increase is envisaged in the number of students reading business studies.

Science

In physical sciences, numbers are expected to grow slightly by making fuller use of resources. The Committee proposes that important new developments in biological sciences should be supported, including those with a high potential value for the economy, to some extent at the expense of other aspects of biology, and numbers overall may fall slightly.

The Committee has assumed a small increase in the numbers reading mathematical sciences.

It is suggested that numbers in engineering and technology should increase slightly but with some redistribution between institutions. It will be for universites to decide, within the total numbers, the extent to which the lengthening of existing courses can be justified.

It is proposed that numbers in agriculture should decrease, but it is hoped that numbers in veterinary science can be maintained with a less than average reduction in resources.

The Committee recommends significant reductions in architecture and town planning, since there is evidence that existing numbers are greater than the prospects for professional employment in these areas.

The Committee proposes a reduction of about one-quarter in the number of places available for subjects allied to medicine, much of this reduction falling upon pharmacy.

Medicine

The Committee regrets that it is no longer able to include in grant funds to enable universities to offer to clinical medicine the protection which it has hitherto enjoyed in relation to the general decline in resources. There has been some funding ahead of numbers in the growing medical schools, and all schools should be able to maintain 1980 intakes (which implies a small increase in total numbers).

The Committee has for some time been concerned at the generally low level of research activity in dental schools which it believes is in part due to inadequate funding. Although it is not yet possible to improve this situation, the Committee has based its grant distribution on a less than average cut in the resources available to dentistry. The question of dental numbers is under review elsewhere; but for the present, intakes have been assumed to be unchanged.

9. These recommendations would lead to a change in the distribution of students as among arts, science and medicine, from 50:41:9 in 1979–80 to 48:42:10.

10. As far as individual universities are concerned, the annex gives (a) the recurrent grant (excluding rates, on which I will write separately) for each institution for 1981–82, with tentative grant figures for 1982–83 and 1983–384 (all at the same price base); (b) the furniture and equipment grant for 1981–82: (c) the full-time home and EC student numbers (divided into arts, science and medicine) on which provisional grant for 1983–3984 has been based; and (d) the total student numbers as in (c), together with the corresponding total for 1979–80.

Some universities (and in particular those with longer courses as in Scotland) may prefer to treat the target numbers as applicable to 1984–85 rather than 1983–84. In addition, institutions have freedom of virement within the full-time student numbers for each of the three subject groups between home and EC students, undergraduates and postgraduates.

The tentative individual grant figures in (a) are based upon two assumptions: that there is an evident progression towards the student targets in (c); and that fees continue to contribute about their present proportion to university income. Grant would be reassessed were either of these assumptions to be invalidated. The figures overall depend upon provision by government.

Part-time, extra-mural and continuing education

The Committee has attempted, within the resources available, to provide for part-time study of all kinds: i.e. students taking degrees and diplomas, or on extra-mural courses, or in continuing education whether vocational or non-vocational. The numbers of students taken into account in determining grant, in terms of full-time equivalence, are given in my separate letter. Grants are also based on assumptions about fees, as follows:

  1. (a) Part-time degree and diploma students
  2. Fees for part-time students, when expressed as full-time equivalents, have been assumed to be half those appropriate to full-time students at the same level, undergraduate or postgraduate.
  3. (b) Extra-mural students
  4. Fee income from full-time equivalent extra-mural students has been assumed to be one-fifth of that of the same number of full-time undergraduate students.
  5. (c) Continuing educaton students
  6. The Committee considers that assistance for continuing education should be essentially of a pump-priming nature and that fees for such courses should in the longer term cover the attributable costs.

It will of course be open to institutions to adjust their fees to meet individual circumstances, but this will not affect the Committee's assumptions on grant. There will be a reconsideration of these grant arrangements and estimated numbers after two years. The Committee should be consulted on any proposal for virement between part-time and full-time numbers.

12. The Committee is aware that very useful discussions are already going on between universities in order to ensure the more effective use of resources whether by concentration of studies, the sharing out of fields of specialisation or in other ways. The Committee will be willing, where there is a possibility of an effective merging of particular activities between two or more institutions, to consider claims for some modest increase in the recurrent grant for capital works and some contribution towards other associated costs.

13. As I foreshadowed in my letter of 15 May, the Committee is anxious to sustain its share of the dual support system whereby the UGC provides both for a basic level of research activity, and for a research floor capable as far as possible of sustaining specific support from Research Councils and elsewhere. In present circumstances, however, there must be selectivity in this process, and the Committee will continue discussions with Research Councils and other funding bodies in order to ensure that there is some linking of policies for supporting research at a time when further concentration of activity is inescapable. The Committe has taken into account the needs of research in its distribution of both recurrent and equipment grants. Because of the essential role of libraries in research the Committee hopes that expenditure on library materials will receive some protection.

14. You will be aware that the Secretary of State's announcement on 13 March on grant for 1981–82 included the earmarking of certain sums for special purposes. I deal briefly with each of these:

  1. i. The £20 million to assist in the adaptation of the system to a lower level of funding will be used both for new developments which assist restructuring and to help universities with costs of early retirement and redundancy. You are invited to make proposals by the end of January 1982.
  2. ii. £2.8 million has been allocated to continue the scheme administered by the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Principals to assist outstanding research students from overseas.
  3. iii. The sum of £3 million to assist postgraduate work of particular importance to this country which might otherwise suffer on account of the overseas fee policy will be separately allocated.
  4. iv. A sum of £7.99 million has been transferred to recurrent grant for capital schemes under £1 million. From within this amount, grants for projects programmed under the present interim arrangements will, as envisaged in my letter of 19 February 1981, be notified to the universities concerned at the appropriate time. Capital grant for schemes programmed in previous years and those over £1 million in the current year will be treated separately.
  5. v. The grant includes provision for overseas students who began their courses prior to October 1980, and for EC students.
  6. vi. Provision is also made in the grant for the financing of student unions in 1981–82 at the same real terms level as in 1980–81, allowing for part of the income to be received through fees, as described in my letter of 12 March 1981.

15. This letter and its annex are being made readily available to all who may be interested. The Committee hopes that Vice-Chancellors and Principals will feel able to discuss it fully and widely within their institutions.

Yours sincerely

Edward Parkes"