MPs plan inquiry into HE

MPs are preparing a major inquiry into higher education but are making it clear that it will not be a repeat of Dearing.

Two years after the Dearing report, the House of Commons education subcommittee will announce next month what is expected to be a wide-ranging remit for its inquiry, which is likely to start next year.

Subcommittee member Gordon Marsden (Labour, Blackpool South) said that members would probably favour investigating both teaching and research within universities.

Mr Marsden added that the aim would be to see how well the sector is responding to government policy, including the far-reaching widening participation agenda.

He said that he wanted to look at the balance within universities between teaching and research, in terms of time and resources devoted to each.

He said: "It is fairly clear that none of the members wants a rerun of Dearing but the first thing that should register is that the committee has not done an inquiry into higher education for nearly 20 years. It is inevitable that we will want to ask some fundamental questions."

Mr Marsden said that he would like to look at the teaching quality assessment.

The role of the Higher Education Funding Council for England could also come under consideration and he suggested the committee may look at ways of encouraging universities to work more closely with schools.

But Mr Marsden indicated that a full-scale investigation into the research assessment exercise might prove unwieldy. He said: "There are widely expressed concerns about the nature of the RAE. But minor adjustments to areas of the RAE might be easier to achieve than if we were to look in detail at the whole."

The subcommittee is still without a chair since Malcolm Wicks was promoted to junior minister for lifelong learning.

A replacement will be announced after Parliament returns from the summer recess.