Encouraging Responsible Universities

Speakers: Rt Hon David Willetts MP, Minister for Universities and Science; Shabana Mahmood MP, Shadow HE Minister; Professor Malcolm Gillies, Vice Chancellor, London Metropolitan University; Liam Burns, President, NUS; Ben Page, Chief Executive, Ipsos MORI; Susan Anderson, Director for Public Services and Skills, CBI: Nicola Dandridge, Chief Executive, Universities UK; Professor Nicholas Barr, Professor of Public Economics, LSE; David Sweeney, Director of Innovation and Research, HEFCE; Christopher Cook, Education Correspondent, FT;
Chair: Ian Mulheirn, Director, SMF
When the Government permitted the lifting of the cap on tuition fees, most universities decided to increase their fees to the maximum £9,000 a year from 2012/2013.
But, due to the subsidies in the student loan scheme, this clustering of fees would be too expensive for government. In the Higher Education White Paper published this summer, the Government introduced policies that incentivise many universities to charge much less.
Students, universities and government are in a state of turbulence and flux as they wait to see the fee levels which will be charged for the next academic year. Since the Government clearly wants more sustainable and variable fee levels, this conference brings together key experts and stakeholders from the HE sector to discuss what is a responsible university – in regards to what they charge and offer – for students and government.