Northumbria University

Northumbria, the Browne Review and 2012 fees:

Where do we go next?

Jackie Njoroge(Head of Analysis & Planning, Finance)

Chris Watts(Director, Student Services)

External environment

Browne Review

Terms of reference“The Review will analyse the challenges and

opportunities facing higher education and their implications for student financing and support. It will examine the balance of contributions to higher education funding by taxpayers, students, graduates and employers. Its primary task is to make recommendations to Government on the future of fees policy and financial support for full and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students.”

Browne outcomesBrowne outcomes

Browne proposed:• Unlimited fees• A levy to Government on •charges over £6k

• Government reaction to Browne

Graduate contributionsGraduate contributions

•Government opted for:• £6k basic threshold on tuition fees• £9k maximum cap, subject to meeting ‘much tougher’ access conditions

• No student pays up-front• Repayments start when earning £21K• More progressive interest rates; loans written off after 30 years

• Increased transparency (Key Information Set)• Increased requirements for WP and Access activity

Funding

Funding body grants as a % of Income 2009/10

Northumbria

Durham Newcastle

Surplus as a % of income 2009/10

NorthumbriaNewcastle

Durham

Northumbria’s Approach

What must we consider?What must we consider?

• Our approach• Competitors• Value for money• Access agreement• Communication

Our approach?Our approach?

• Programme Charging Group:

• Extensive research/analysis

• Seminars/briefings/workshops:– VCEG– Governors– Staff/student reps

CompetitorsCompetitors

So what has been announced so far?

CompetitorsCompetitors

£9000/year:

Aston Bath Birmingham Cambridge Central Lancs City (London) DurhamEssex Exeter Imperial Kent Lancaster Leeds Leicester Liverpool Liverpool JMULoughborough Manchester Nottingham Oxford Oxford Brookes Reading Royal Agricultural Coll. Surrey Sussex UC Falmouth UCL Warwick

CompetitorsCompetitors

Single fee <£9k:Anglia Ruskin £8,000Bishop Grosseteste College £7,500Leeds Met £8,500London South Bank £8,390Portsmouth £8,500Southampton Solent £7,800St Mary’s (Twickenham) £8,000

A range:Coventry £4,600 – £9,000Derby £6,995 - £7,995Hertfordshire £7,400 - £8,500London Met £4,500 - £9,000University Campus Suffolk £7,500 - £8,000

Value for MoneyValue for Money

• We must deliver clear value for money:• Transparency;• Excellent delivery – academic & support;• Strong NSS outcomes;• Good (better) academic outcomes;• Simple, clear, consistent communication.

• Continue to drive up the quality of the intake – entry tariffs.

• Use the above, alongside other factors, to build reputation.

The KISThe KIS

‘Most useful’ information for prospective students, extracted from Browne Review:

‘Most useful’ information for prospective students, extracted from Browne Review:

Student evaluation Course information Finance information

Student satisfaction with:• standard of teaching • the course• support and guidance• feedback on assessment• library facilities• IT facilities• Student Union

• hours of teaching contact• proportion of assessment by coursework

• proportion employed in professional/managerial

• proportion employed• professional bodies which recognise the course

• average salary of graduates

• cost of halls of residence• maximum available bursary

• maximum household income for bursary eligibility

Example: EmployabilityExample: Employability

Rank Institution

% in employment or study

1 Northumbria 92.3

2 Durham 91.7

3 Newcastle 91.2

4 Leeds 90.8

5 Manchester 89.5

6 Oxford Brookes 89.3

7 Sheffield Hallam 88.3

8 Manchester Met. 87.8

9 Sunderland 87.4

10 Leeds Met. 86.9

11 Teesside 85.7

Access AgreementAccess Agreement• Current position:– Access agreement in place - renewable every 5 years;– Allows Northumbria to charge up to £3290/yr;– Monitored annually alongside the WPSA;– Current performance against HESA KPIs is good:

Target Group Benchmark 2009 Performance

State schools 91.8% 92.2%

NS-SEC 4-7 35% 34%

LPNs 10.7% 14.25%

Mature 10.4% 14.8%

Minority ethnic groups - 7.4%

Students with disabilities 4.9% 3.2%

Non-continuation 7.6% 6.2%

Access AgreementAccess Agreement

The Future:

• New Access Agreement required – submission by 19 April;

• Renewable annually, in full;• Much greater focus on KPIs/outcomes;• Need to develop further our outreach activity and

have it embedded across the University;• Effective package of financial support.

CommunicationCommunication

We must ensure that:• our message is understood;• we differentiate from competitors;• we ‘prove’ VFM.

We will instigate:• a major internal & external communications campaign;• wide geographic footprint;• mix of communication channels;• target audiences- potential students; parents; stakeholders;

business.

Your feedbackYour feedback

1. How can/should we define Northumbria?

2. How should we differentiate Northumbria from the competition?

3. What are we? What should we seek to be?