Joint IOP-RSC-SB response to the BIS consultation on the Higher Education White Paper

The RSC, the Institute of Physics and the Society of Biology recently responded to a consultation from the department for Business, Innovation and Skills on the Higher Education White Paper: "Higher Education: Students at the Heart of the System".

The key issues raised in the response were:

• Greater support for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) subjects in Higher Education must be provided to generate a steady supply of talented, highly-skilled individuals

• These STEM graduates will become the next generation of scientists and engineers, as well as being members of a wider, more scientifically literate workforce

• Funding for high-cost subjects such as the sciences is an investment in the economy and must be sufficient to ensure that HEIs are not dissuaded from offering these courses

• Proposal to liberate student numbers and recruitment must not bias A-level and HE level subject choices toward non-science subjects

• Access to the study of science courses should be irrespective of the ability to pay 

• Funding should be made available to ensure that HEIs can continue to offer four-year integrated Masters degrees

• Greater interaction between HEIs and employers should be fostered and encouraged to ensure the employability of graduates