Who would have thought - you wait three years for a government response to an independent review of the Higher Education system, and then two responses come along at once. 

Unsurprisingly, when ministers recently published their plans for the Higher Education, or HE sector, the headlines were dominated by the decision to freeze tuition fees at £9,250 for the next three years as well as some controversial changes to student loans. 

However, alongside those eye-catching decisions, the government opened a consultation on a separate set of proposals that they claim will “improve outcomes, access and value for money of investment in higher education by students and taxpayers.” 

As the government’s consultation closes on Friday 6th May – the day that this episode is published – we thought it was a good opportunity to take a closer look. 

So what changes has the government proposed in their consultation? What justifications have ministers provided for these changes? And how easy will it be to balance the interests of students and taxpayers as the government tries to simultaneously improve outcomes, access and value for money? 

To give us their views on whether the government’s proposed reforms are the right or wrong solutions, we are joined by two senior figures from the HE sector. 

Diana Beech is the Chief Executive of London Higher, the umbrella organisation representing 40 universities and higher education colleges across London 

And Alistair Jarvis CBE is the Chief Executive of Universities UK, which represents 140 universities across the UK. 

CLICK HERE TO BROWSE OUR PODCAST BACK CATALOGUE

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER / X