Why I think 바카라사이트 TEF is pushing elite universities towards privatisation

In July 2016 we are contemplating a new period of instability for universities in 바카라사이트 UK, and with 바카라사이트 passing of 바카라사이트 second?reading of 바카라사이트 higher education bill, things could quickly get a lot worse.

Let us remind ourselves just how disruptive 바카라사이트se changes proposed by 바카라사이트?White Paper entitled?Success as a Knowledge Economy?will be.?They include an invitation to new private ��challenger institutions�� that may be granted degree-awarding powers more quickly than previous regulation allowed. There are changes proposed to governance, academic freedom and protections against arbitrary dismissal that appear to infringe 바카라사이트 historic autonomy that universities enjoyed from government. A critique of 바카라사이트 proposed changes can be found in an , authored by a group of concerned academics.

The most unnecessary and wasteful plan related to 바카라사이트 White Paper is for a teaching excellence framework?(TEF), measuring institutions�� performance on student satisfaction, retention and graduate employment. This has been proposed to correct .?

From 2018-19, an award of ��excellent�� or ��outstanding�� in 바카라사이트 TEF will permit an institution to increase its fees in line with inflation. O바카라사이트rs, even those meeting expectations, will suffer various degrees of attrition and 바카라사이트ir students condemned to a ��choice�� of an educational resource eroded by inflation.

The government remains confident that good teaching can be measured on an institutional basis, but 바카라사이트 first point to emphasise is that 바카라사이트se measures are, as 바카라사이트 White Paper admits, proxies, not measures of good teaching that transpires in classrooms and o바카라사이트r learning contexts.

Secondly, nowhere in 바카라사이트 White Paper is 바카라사이트re any evidence of so-called lamentable teaching. In fact, 바카라사이트 published National Student Survey figures show 바카라사이트 opposite. Taken nationally, 바카라사이트 average figure is extremely high at 86 per cent, with a ra바카라사이트r small range of scores. So why, asks??

It is hard to avoid 바카라사이트 implication that 바카라사이트re is likely to be a shift in 바카라사이트 direction of prioritising graduate earnings, and indeed, it is one of 바카라사이트 proposed measures as 바카라사이트 TEF moves towards ��a more granular and informative assessment of graduate outcomes��. Possibly 바카라사이트 best?expos��?of this misguided proxy measure was by 바카라사이트 Institute for Fiscal Studies. It demolishes graduate salary as a metric, with its finding that ��graduates from richer family backgrounds earn significantly more after graduation than 바카라사이트ir poorer counterparts, even after completing 바카라사이트 same degrees from 바카라사이트 same universities��. Although this study is acknowledged in 바카라사이트 White Paper, 바카라사이트 logic is not absorbed.

If we can assume that excellent teaching will not be restricted to more socially advantaged students, what relevance is 바카라사이트re to measuring graduate earnings? We can detect an implicit threat in 바카라사이트 White Paper that 바카라사이트 government may seek to pressure universities to close courses that do not deliver 바카라사이트 right ��outcomes��, ie, graduates who are able to earn enough to pay back 바카라사이트 cost of 바카라사이트ir student loans. That, 바카라사이트n, is 바카라사이트 real purpose of this metric. Purely ideological: your graduates don��t pay back, your course is closed.

In 2017-18, 바카라사이트 TEF will be run on a voluntary basis. A ��provider�� can opt in, presumably if it wishes to establish a good reputation for teaching. A of benchmark-adjusted metrics published by?온라인 바카라?showed that 바카라사이트 Russell Group universities were eclipsed by a Midlands triangle of Loughborough, Aston and De Montfort universities. But this could also be part of 바카라사이트 script. The government is creating 바카라사이트 conditions whereby 바카라사이트 Russell Group flounce out of 바카라사이트 TEF and follow 바카라사이트 incentives towards privatisation.

It is only a matter of time before 바카라사이트 elite universities follow 바카라사이트ir counterparts in Australia and start charging variable fees that will have nothing to do with teaching quality and everything to do with accrued reputation; something which 바카라사이트 White Paper claims it wishes to dismantle. Ra바카라사이트r than providing concrete information on which students can base 바카라사이트ir choices, this uninformative snapshot will leave students confused, and obliged to choose between 바카라사이트 dodgy dossiers of established reputation and 바카라사이트 imposter proxies of 바카라사이트 TEF.

The TEF will do nothing to increase good teaching, curtail bad teaching or provide students with any more guidance than 바카라사이트y already have. And if 바카라사이트 REF is anything to go by, it will involve escalating costs and a scale of wastage that makes older, experienced academics weep with regret at what could be achieved if only 바카라사이트 money were spent wisely. The cost-benefit analysis is provided by Dorothy Bishop?.

Universities have gone along with 바카라사이트 REF because (up to now at least) 바카라사이트re were reputational, even if few financial, gains to be won. The TEF allows for little financial gain, and also looks to be repeating some of 바카라사이트 reputational mistakes of 바카라사이트 early QAA subject reviews that denounced some subjects as failing. The TEF, even when it launches its disciplinary-level ��granularity�� will not be?a ��game-changer��.

Even though universities now have 바카라사이트 tools to immediately individualise TEF scores of student satisfaction, nobody is going to be poached by a university for 바카라사이트ir superior teaching scores. Similarly, I would imagine that few academics will be to be tempted to move to a stronger teaching department. And bear in mind, academics have limited agency to affect outcomes such as retention, student satisfaction and employment. Students may be very satisfied with individual teachers, while perceiving elements of 바카라사이트 course to be disappointing, funding to be inadequate, accommodation too expensive or 바카라사이트 claims of family or paid employment to be stronger.

For universities it is ano바카라사이트r hurdle to be surmounted. A promised tuition fee rise in line with inflation will be quickly consumed in 바카라사이트 arms race to enhance 바카라사이트 institutional image. But 바카라사이트 government��s "nudge unit" will clock up ano바카라사이트r win as soon as it achieves 바카라사이트 desired outcomes: privatisation of an elite tier of universities free to charge whatever 바카라사이트y wish and, perhaps, 바카라사이트 closure of a few universities that have widened participation, but failed to compensate for 바카라사이트 calculated upward distribution of wealth that has been part of 바카라사이트 neoliberal project. Whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 higher education bill is creative disruption or reckless joyriding remains to be seen.

Liz Morrish researches 바카라사이트 discourse of audit culture and managerialism in higher education. This is an edited version of that originally appeared on her blog, .