Sir Philip Augar Welcomes The Turn Towards Tertiary

It’s taken six years, but the key message from 2019’s groundbreaking Review of Post-18 Education & Funding is at last being woven in to government policy. At the Lifelong Education Institute’s Fringe event at this week’s Labour Party Conference in Liverpool, Sir Philip Augar was part of a stellar panel representing FE and HE, with Professor Malcolm Press, President of Universities UK, David Hughes, CEO of the Association of Colleges, and Mary Curnock-Cook, Chair of Pearson Education UK. It was a fascinating discussion, which managed to be simultaneously sober but passionate, collegiate yet at times feisty, and remarkably prescient of the tectonic shifts in policy signalled two days later in the Prime Minister’s Conference speech.

Behind the scenes, Philip Augar has been very supportive of the LEI, as our Chair, Dame Ann Limb, acknowledged during her welcoming remarks. The reason is simple; we are one of very few organisations with a mission to bring together all parts of the Tertiary education sector – not just FE and HE, but Independent Training Providers, local authorities, and employers, as reflected in the breadth of our membership. And the core message of the Post-18 Review Panel’s report, which Sir Philip highlighted in his opening remarks, was to close the huge gap in funding and priority between the 50% of young people who go into HE and the 50% who don’t. Underinvestment in FE was already apparent to the Review Panel in 2018, when FE taught twice as many learners as universities for only a quarter of the per-student funding, and while noting that recent spending reviews have begun to reverse the cuts in 16-19 education and college estates, he joined the calls for an immediate uplift in FE funding.

Sir Philip also called for index-linking of HE student fees, a point that Malcolm Press echoed in his comments, also calling for enhanced maintenance support and more focus across the sector in “Jobs for Students” schemes. With his extensive knowledge of the HE ecosystem (his academic background is as an ecologist) and trademark clarity, Malcolm set out what he called “the five crises” facing the sector and offered a range of ideas on what solutions are needed, including the striking fact that seventeen Cabinet ministers have Arts & Humanities degrees, reinforcing the need to protect vital subjects beyond those prioritised in the Industrial Strategy.

Surveying a fragmented Post-18 landscape far too disconnected from labour market needs David Hughes emphasised the importance of building structures that balanced the needs of the four key actors – learners, employers, providers, and government – both at national and regional level. The aim should be to create a lifelong education system that instils a sense of belief that learners can adapt and upskill across a 45-50 year working life and reintroduces flexible, stackable, modular pathways to qualification success.

Mary Curnock-Cook added in the need for reform of the ineffective GCSE English and maths resit policy, and the imperative to preserve BTEC and similar courses, while also proposing the idea of mandating Level 4 and 5 exit awards for those in higher education to boost flexibility and allow students to continue earning while learning.

The discussion that followed was lively and instructive. While the degree of consensus between the panellists came across strongly, there were sharp differences around the value of traditional three year degrees and the risks and opportunities of pivoting towards part-time, modular courses as an alternative. If nothing else, the debate was a reminder of how much is at stake in the move to a new Tertiary paradigm, and of the practical complexities of balancing the needs of FE and HE providers with the needs of the economy and individual learners.

48 hours later, Sir Keir Starmer’s Conference speech confirmed that the government is indeed moving ahead with a rebalancing of resources and opportunities across  the Post-18 sector. Stronger investment in FE, a new target for higher education participation based on apprenticeships and Higher Technical Qualifications as well as traditional degrees, a renewed focus on NEETs and better skills development pathways for young people – all on top of the Chancellor’s earlier announcement on the reinstatement of student maintenance grants – add up to the beginnings of a genuinely Tertiary strategy and of a delivery system based on collaboration rather than competition. But there are a whole range of hurdles still to overcome, as shifts in policy work their way through and create potential winners and losers in the funding game. If we are to work actively in partnership, all provider sectors need to feel supported and adequately funded. The November budget will be the next crunch point for all of us.

Policy development is a long game, especially when fundamental shifts in direction are involved. The Post-18 report was commissioned by Theresa May, and since then we’ve had four Prime Ministers and seven Education Secretaries. Lifelong Education has flickered in and out of sight as policy has continued to churn, quangos have been born and passed away, and a seemingly endless stream of initiatives have come and gone. But perhaps Philip Augar has a crystal ball. Or perhaps the analysis contained in the report is proving to be the right one. Whatever the reason, something in the policy environment has changed. Six years after the Augar Review, its key message is finally being heard by government.