Higher education: a new reality

Following the introduction of higher university tuition fees in the UK in 2012, the niggling question at the back of my mind has been ‘what next?’. Now the dust has settled following the general election, there is a little more clarity over the likely direction of government policy on higher education. Many will be alarmed by the potential threats, but there are also opportunities that could genuinely have positive impacts for students who are paying a small fortune for the privilege of undertaking degree-level study.

At the core of forthcoming developments will be a new Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF). The very name will send shivers down the spines of many in higher education, bringing to mind the horrors of the Research Excellence Framework. The TEF is intended to be a much lighter touch and not ‘big, bossy and bureaucratic’, but until we have more clarity on its nature many will be sceptical.