Abstract

According to the Coalition Government, ‘The proposals outlined in the White Paper represent a radical reform of higher education in England’. But where is the evidence that radical reform is needed? By what established international standard is the British university system failing? Does it offer a poor return on investment by taxpayers and students? Is it failing to keep pace with its international competitors? Are there other university systems which are demonstrably producing better results for less money? If so, how do they do it? And where is the empirical evidence that the radical changes the Government proposes will make our current system better? In a devastating article in the London Review of Books last May, Howard Hotson suggested that such evidence is lacking. This lecture will present a large body of additional evidence and analysis in support of the view that the current British university system, far from urgently needing radical reform, offers far better value for money than the highly marketised systems on which it is being remodelled.