By Vivienne Russell | 27 March 2014
Higher education teaching grants have been cut by a further 6% in cash terms it was revealed today as details of the funding settlement for England’s universities and colleges were confirmed.
Around 40% (£1.6bn) of the total £3.88bn funding allocation is to be spent on teaching in the 2014/15 academic year, the Higher Education Funding Council for England said.
The 2014/15 academic year is the third year of the transition to new higher education funding arrangements, which are marked by much higher student fees and lower teaching grants. Hefce said its teaching funding was now increasingly aimed at meeting the costs of teaching that are not covered by tuition fees alone, such as in high-cost subjects and at small and specialist institutions.
Research funding is being maintained in cash terms, with a £1.6bn allocation. Hefce said it would continue to fund research selectively, focused on world-leading activity.
There is also £440m in capital grants included in the allocations, as well as £143m for national facilities and initiatives and £160m for knowledge exchange between universities and businesses.
Hefce chief executive Madeleine Atkins said: ‘Public funding is experiencing continuing constraints, and the higher education sector is no exception.
‘The cuts to teaching funding and the continued cash standstill in research funding will hurt universities. They come at a time of considerable change in higher education.’
She added Hefce had to make some difficult decisions in balancing competing interests within higher education. ‘We are asking the sector to do more with fewer resources, but, with care, the reductions are manageable.’
The funding will be shared between 130 universities and higher education colleges and 212 further education colleges.
