Lord Browne: Universities warned to expect £4.2bn cuts

Universities UK claims tuition fees proposals confirmed the fear of massive cuts. Universities in England are being warned to expect an 80% cut to their teaching budgets in next week's government spending review. The president of the vice chancellors group Universities UK Steve Smith has contacted all higher education institutions informing them to expect a likely £4.2bn cut to their teaching and a £1bn reduction in their research budgets.

This echoes Lord Browne's review of funding which was published last week, said that he see's the teaching budget dropping to £700 million per year also he said degrees in medicine, science, engineering and modern languages could stop receiving subsidies.

Also he said Universities will have to start charging around £7,000 per year in fees to maintain the current levels of investment.

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Schools turning into exam factories

Private schools are being turned into “exam factories” from pressure being applied by pushy parents to produce the best results.

The teachers are being put under pressure by families to deliver top grades to boost their children’s chances getting into the top universities.

Research authorised by the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, which represents 250 leading independent schools, said the focus on GCSE and A-level preparation “compromised” their ability to deliver sport, expeditions and school trips for final year pupils.

The study from HMC’s annual meeting in central London – said pressure from parents and universities produced a “vicious circle” that constrained schools’ abilities to provide a broad education and teach children to think independently.

It said many schools were “risk averse and lacked the courage to actively create the curriculum” that most teachers wanted to deliver.

The disclosure follows claims from Gary Lineker, the BBC presenter and former England football captain, that Charterhouse treated his son as a “guinea pig'' by ditching A-levels in favour of new-style exams. George Lineker, 18, failed to obtain the three B grades needed to get into Manchester University after the fee-paying school in Surrey switched to the tougher Cambridge Pre-U qualification.

Article extracted from Telegraph