Parliamentary plans with consequences for the chemical sciences
The Queen has opened a new parliamentary session and set forward the government’s legislative agenda for the coming year.
A number of bills were announced including measures to address tax avoidance, improve transport networks and introduce reforms to schools in England. The announcements also included the introduction of a Higher Education and Research bill, which will bring into force many or all of the plans laid out in the White Paper, which was published on Monday.
The proposed legislation will have wide reaching consequences for research and teaching of all disciplines, including chemistry. We will be working with members, government and other stakeholders to ensure that these changes meet the needs of the community and maintain the UK’s position as a world-leading scientific nation.
Our policy colleagues assess what this week’s announcements mean for the chemical sciences...
Wakeham Review
The Wakeham review into employment outcomes of different STEM degrees was published earlier this week, led by Sir William Wakeham and supported by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE).
It is positive that the Chemistry and Materials Science discipline was not highlighted as an area of major concern although we continue to monitor employment outcomes and provide support for those studying and practicing the chemical sciences. Our head of membership and accreditation, Dr David Barr, sat on the Wakeham Advisory Group and explains that: "Royal Society of Chemistry accreditation of chemical science degrees plays an important role in ensuring graduate skills are aligned with employer demand.
"We are pleased that the review highlighted the benefits of robust accreditation and constantly review our processes to ensure our accreditation remains strong and relevant."
HE White Paper
The government’s Higher Education White Paper, Success as a Knowledge Economy: Teaching Excellence, Social Mobility and Student Choice, sets out the Conservatives’ plans to simplify the architecture into two bodies: the Office for Students (OfS) and UK Research and Innovation (UKRI). There will be a reduced regulatory burden across the sector with a move to a single, risk-based regulatory framework for all existing, alternative and new providers of higher and further education. Further deregulation comes in the form of student number controls continuing to be lifted, more flexible degree awarding powers being introduced and the minimum student number requirement for University Title being removed.
The OfS will provide a single, overarching voice for higher and further education students within Government. This new regulatory body, which will come into operation from the 2018/19 academic year, will incorporate many of the regulatory functions of the existing Higher Education Funding Council for England and the Office for Fair Access, with responsibility for ensuring higher education institutions, alternative providers and further education colleges meet the requirements for quality assurance (including the Teaching Excellence Framework), widening participation, data and information.
UKRI will allocate funding for research and innovation and will incorporate the functions of the seven Research Councils, Innovate UK, and HEFCE’s research funding functions. The names and brands of the Research Councils and Innovate UK will be retained and HEFCE’s research funding functions will be managed by a new Council called Research England.
Our director of membership and external affairs, Clare Viney, says: "We are pleased to see the Government has listened to concerns raised by the Royal Society of Chemistry and others to protect the Haldane principle – leaving detailed research funding allocations to be made by expert peer review – and that the dual support system will be protected by legislation."
Teaching Excellence Framework
The HE White Paper also set out further details of how the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) will be implemented. Initial proposals for the TEF, which aims recognise and improve the quality of teaching in HE, were first published in a green paper last year to which we responded (read our response).
Our director of education, Sarah Robertson, says: "The Government has also taken note of the suggestion we – and other learned societies – made to phase the implementation of the TEF and to carry out pilots, including at the subject level.
"We still have some questions about the appropriateness of the proposed metrics and plan to respond to the technical consultation published alongside the white paper.”
In the first year of the TEF, all UK universities with a successful QA review are eligible to receive a TEF rating and can increase their tuition fees in line with inflation. A technical consultation on the second year of the TEF was published alongside the white paper and there are plans to introduce pilots and assessment at the disciplinary-level in 2018-2020. Proposed benchmarks and assessment criteria also aim to ensure positive outcomes for disadvantages students.
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