Any move by the Westminster government to cut student numbers via a cap would undermine the levelling-up agenda and be ¡°enormously bureaucratic¡±, while a minimum entry requirement would undermine ¡°British values on inclusion, aspiration and the power of education¡±, according to MillionPlus.

The group of modern universities makes the warning in its response to a government consultation on a ¡°higher education reform¡± package, which includes a proposal to introduce minimum entry requirements to qualify for student loans in higher education ¨C with the bar being a pass in GCSE English and mathematics in the government¡¯s main option.

The package also includes vaguer floating of the idea of a system of student number controls (SNC). There, the options set out by the government in the consultation range from a ¡°sector-wide cap¡± to ¡°more granular¡± limits set by institution or subject, potentially setting them by looking at outcomes including graduate earnings.

¡°It is not clear from this consultation what the purpose of such a policy would be,¡± says MillionPlus in its response.

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¡°If it is to save money, then in order to achieve its objective it would need to be set at a level that would have a real impact on student numbers, with a clear consequential impact on widening access, and therefore the thrust of the levelling-up agenda,¡± it adds.

¡°The imposition of an SNC would present a huge change to the architecture of the higher education sector, and therefore absolute clarity on why it is being done would need to be more clearly spelled out.¡±

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MillionPlus also says that the models outlined by the government, ¡°particularly basing caps at provider level on subject outcomes, are enormously bureaucratic¡±.

¡°A system of picking winners and losers, based on back-projections [of graduate outcomes] is unlikely to continue to allow universities to respond accurately to business and industry need, or indeed the needs and desires of their own current or future students,¡± it adds.

¡°This will be particularly acute for certain regions of the country where salary levels, skilled employment levels, or general economic development is traditionally lower ¨C a foundational element of why the government seeks to address levelling up.¡±

On a minimum entry requirement, MillionPlus¡¯ member institutions, which do the bulk of the sector¡¯s recruitment of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, are the most likely to see potential students hit.

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¡°Using a blunt tool like MER goes against the much-lauded Robbins¡¯ principle for higher education in this country, that ¡®courses of higher education should be available for all those who are qualified by ability and attainment to pursue them and who wish to do so¡¯,¡± it says.

¡°Such a clear statement of purpose cuts to the very heart of what the HE system should be about, and speaks to British values on inclusion, aspiration and the power of education,¡± the group adds. ¡°It would be a great shame to undermine this principle now and dilute this proud heritage of the UK system.¡±

Plus, channelling people into alternative educational routes via an MER ¡°would essentially embed these routes as qualifications for those unable to succeed at degree level, and therefore of lesser quality and status¡±, it argues. ¡°This would almost certainly have knock-on implications for businesses looking at who to hire, and the value of certain types of qualification.¡±

john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com