| Practice area: | Education and Labour Markets |
|---|---|
| Client: | Nuffield Foundation |
| Published: | 6 February, 2024 |
| Keywords: | economics of education higher education 2024 Public Policy |
Funded by the Nuffield Foundation, London Economics are undertaking a range of in-depth analyses in relation to higher education fees and funding arrangements across the four Home Nations of the UK, ahead of the next General Election. Building on more than a decade of our research on higher education funding systems across the four Home Nations, this study aims to:
- Improve the wider understanding of the UK’s HE fees and funding systems in order to support high-quality debate and well-informed voting decisions.
- Supply key evidence and analytical capability to support the development of policies and pledges of UK mainstream political parties so that manifesto commitments are evidence based; and
- Drive up the reliability and accuracy of public claims through the publication of transparent and impartial assessments of the parties’ policies and pledges in each Home Nation ahead of the next General Election.
For more information on the project, please see here. As part of this work, and supported by the Higher Education Policy Institute, we hosted four in-person events in each of the four Home Nations in late February and early March 2024. As the recordings of these events become available, we will post them below:
| · London event | Recording | Slides |
| · Edinburgh event | Recording | Slides |
| · Cardiff event | Unavailable | Slides |
| · Belfast event | Recording | Slides |
Each of the four individual policy notes presented below provides an overview of the costs associated with the current undergraduate fee and funding arrangements operating in each Home Nation in 2023-24 (separately for England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland). In addition, in each instance, we also present three alternative scenarios to illustrate the impact of different aspects of each system on students/graduates, the Exchequer, and higher education providers. The cross-country comparison then provides a summary of the main features of the different systems operating in each Home Nation and compares some of the key indicators associated with each system.
 Examination of higher education fees and funding in England This policy note for England presents the resource flows associated with the current English undergraduate funding system in 2023-24, alongside the following three alternative scenarios:
|
 Examination of higher education fees and funding in Scotland
This policy note for Scotland presents the resource flows associated with the current Scottish undergraduate funding system in 2023-24, alongside the following three alternative scenarios:
|
 Examination of higher education fees and funding in Wales
This policy note for Wales presents the resource flows associated with the current Welsh undergraduate funding system in 2023-24, alongside the following three alternative scenarios:
|
 Examination of higher education fees and funding in Northern Ireland
This policy note for Northern Ireland presents the resource flows associated with the current Northern Irish undergraduate funding system in 2023-24, alongside the following three alternative scenarios:
|
 Cross-country comparison
This summary provides a comparison of the core parameters associated with the current fees and funding systems operating in England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland, and presents a range of key indicators on how each system affects students/graduates, higher education providers, and the Exchequer. |
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