Funding council begins radical reshuffle

A radical reshuffle of the English funding council is under way. Two of its four directors are leaving, and advertisements for up to three new directors were placed last week.

The rejig is part of the funding council's plan to develop a strategic ten-year view of higher education, due to be published for consultation in the autumn.

Bahram Bekhradnia, director of policy for the past decade, will leave in the autumn to head a spin-off think-tank.

Next month, Stephen Marston, director of institutions, will return to the Department for Education and Skills' lifelong learning directorate after a four-year secondment.