
Nick Hillman: Three options for higher education. Less support for students, fewer of them – or else they pay more
If if the higher education sector must take some further pain in the spending review, then the last option is the least bad.
If if the higher education sector must take some further pain in the spending review, then the last option is the least bad.
A major part of the problem is high tax rates driven by borrowing for higher education courses that they’d be better off not taking.
Exactly a decade after forming a government with the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats are languishing on the political fringes – where did it all go wrong?
After crushing Labour last year, it might be tempting to rest on our laurels. But we need to act now to keep the extreme left locked out of Number 10.
Surely there is a strong case for capping student applications, not in arbitrary numerical terms, but on the basis of academic achievement at school?
We won the election but suffered badly in places like Canterbury, which I contested.
In this new political battle, the greatest tension will not be left v right or even fiscal
doves v economic hawks. It will be a battle between creativity and convention.
Since 2010 the Tories have helped to drive forward transformational change – but Labour’s half-baked plan to abolish tuition fees could put it all at risk.
He says he’s best placed to deliver Brexit, slash corporation tax and beat Corbyn. And adds “I am not going to criticise Boris for going to a posher public school than me.”
The Government should not be heaping what amount to extra taxes on those just getting by. For progressive change, ministers must look elsewhere.
The more one thinks about it, the more problematic it becomes.
The costs could be offset by encouraging a tenth of students away from low-value university and towards higher-value technical education.
Charging the same amount for different courses does not make sense. Fees should be slashed, but with the threshold for repayments lowered.
This establishment panel will not challenge inefficiency. Parents and business are not represented. Colleges need an incentive to provide a better deal.
Fresh thinking on vocational and technical education is a good start, but fundamental questions about higher education and the state’s role in it remain.