My comments on what the UCU has said

I wish to make a comment on what the Union of Colleges and Universities had said. The first thing is, that their comments and input are very welcome.

May I refer to the first paragraph of what Sally Hunt has said in her letter. That is to say that reference is made to the Government argument that teaching existing ELQ students is not usually as high a priority for public funding as those entering higher education for the first time, or progressing to higher qualifications. I am wondering whether that is really the case because the government is allowing young people who enter higher education to get into thousands of pounds worth of debt, unless they have extremely rich parents. The average debt of a first time undergraduate I understand is now about £23,000. So the government is not really setting an example here; in fact it is setting anything but an example by permitting youngsters and those entering HE for the first time to get into piles of debt. It is creating an indebtedness that will last a graduate about 10 years if not longer. This is something which is putting first timers off going to university in any case and I do not see the government addressing this any time soon. So switching money away from ELQ’s to first timers may not solve the problem anyway. First time buyers of HE are already as put off as they can be from embarking on this debt-ridden of occupations.

The government, as Sally Hunt has pointed out in the letter, has gone to a lot of trouble to explain what ELQs are; it has explained to us that for instance, if a student has a foundation degree and wishes to study for an honours degree then this will not be regarded as an ELQ. This does not explain, however, the thousands of students who are studying for leisure purposes, for health purposes (to keep mind and body alive), or for people who need an ELQ for work purposes and are already a tax and national insurance, VAT payer and contributor to society. These people have all been conveniently forgotten in the scramble to take away this funding.

The obvious categories of students have been exempted from the ELQ diktat, such as nurses, teachers, etc. This is to be expected. There is a safety net provision.

In terms of funding, the Open University and Birkbeck will suffer the worst cuts, having nearly £40 million taken away from them. These are the two institutions that have done the most within this nation to provide innovative courses for widening participation and lifelong learning. This is how they are to be repaid for their efforts by this government.

The Universities and College Union has asked for a response; the above obviously is my response. It is a complete an utter disgrace that the government should seek to chant the mantra of lifelong learning and widening participation and then do this; mostly affecting the aspirations of people within the part-time sector who are already full taxpayers and who have paid into the system many times over during their lifetimes. For all these reasons, I would urge the UCU to vigorously oppose the cuts.


Donald Hedges, Dip Eng Law(Open), BA(Hons)(Solent)
A campaigner against the HEFCE Funding cuts

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