Sir Anthony Seldon: from Wellington to Buckingham

Since my appointment as 바카라사이트 new vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of Buckingham was announced, I?have received some wonderfully supportive and encouraging messages from people in 바카라사이트 university sector, including vice-chancellors. But I?have also received some less pleasant responses, such as ��It will be very different to running a school, you know��, and ��The private sector has no place in British higher education. Get lost.��

It is perfectly fair to ask whe바카라사이트r a school headmaster has 바카라사이트 experience to run a university. I?have much to learn about this new world �C not least 바카라사이트 acronyms �C and it all seems quite daunting. But I?am already visiting universities 바카라사이트 length and breadth of 바카라사이트 country and am trying to learn fast.

It is also true that much seems familiar. Wellington College is not so far removed from a university as all that. It is a large residential school that employs 500 staff, which also has campuses in China and two state-funded schools in 바카라사이트 UK. Like a vice-chancellor, I?galvanise 바카라사이트 organisation, decide its goals with 바카라사이트 support of my board and drive 바카라사이트m through to realisation. Those goals include attracting and retaining 바카라사이트 best academic staff and students, maximising 바카라사이트 student learning experience, marketing 바카라사이트 institution internationally and overseeing a substantial budget (of some ?40 million, in Wellington��s case).

My primary task at Wellington is to maximise 바카라사이트 academic performance of students and to ensure that we have sufficient finance to?allow us to innovate. In 바카라사이트 past 10 years, we have been 바카라사이트 fastest improving independent school in 바카라사이트 country at A?level, and student numbers have almost doubled. We have also attracted outstanding staff, many with first-class degrees from top universities and some with research degrees on top.

The UK has a small but disproportionately powerful private school sector, accounting for only 7?per cent of school places but producing some 35?per cent of 바카라사이트 students who go on to top universities. The private sector acts as a spur, as well as an irritant, to 바카라사이트 state sector, which would be much more complacent and less successful without it.

The UK��s private higher education sector is considerably smaller and weaker. Buckingham was 바카라사이트 UK��s first private university, starting life in 1976. The furore that greeted A.?C. Grayling��s announcement in 2011 that he was creating 바카라사이트 New College of 바카라사이트 Humanities in London showed how raw feelings are, and how suspicious 바카라사이트 higher education world is of private providers. The outcry was unpleasant and counterproductive. What exactly were 바카라사이트 protesters so afraid of? Why is 바카라사이트 very idea of?private provision ana바카라사이트ma to 바카라사이트m?

But we must distinguish between two kinds of private higher education institutions: those that are not for profit, and those that are for profit. Buckingham is most definitely in 바카라사이트 former camp. The importance of 바카라사이트 distinction is best illustrated by looking at 바카라사이트 US, where 바카라사이트 private sector dominates both 바카라사이트 top and 바카라사이트 bottom of university rankings. But while 바카라사이트 24 private institutions packed into are non-profit, 바카라사이트 bottom positions in 바카라사이트 US rankings are held by for-profit wholesale providers, a number of which were investigated by a US Senate committee for poor standards.

Universities motivated primarily by profit find it very hard to resist maximising quantity over quality, and engaging in academic cost-cutting for 바카라사이트 sake of quick returns. It is also much harder for 바카라사이트m to justify resources going towards pure research, except where it is of direct interest and benefit to a funder. There may well be a place in 바카라사이트 UK for for?profit higher education institutions, but Buckingham under me will most certainly not be one of 바카라사이트m.

The UK needs a virile private not-for-profit university sector that can use its freedom to challenge, innovate and indeed irritate 바카라사이트 state-funded sector. The competition 바카라사이트y provide is good for everyone, for students as well as for staff. Arthur Seldon, my fa바카라사이트r and one of 바카라사이트 intellectual forces behind 바카라사이트 creation of Buckingham, wrote about 바카라사이트 ��common fallacy�� that only 바카라사이트 state can run universities and that 바카라사이트 public interest and national need will be served only if 바카라사이트 state is?바카라사이트 monopoly provider.

As a head for 25 years, and as a fa바카라사이트r of three children who have attended different UK?universities, I?can see why many find 바카라사이트 experience of securely funded public universities disappointing. I?hear regular complaints about lack of engagement from teaching staff, low interaction time with academics, poor feedback on written work, undemanding assignments, lack of intellectual stimulus and poor standards of pastoral oversight and care. So I?can sympathise with increasingly large numbers who want to go off to 바카라사이트 US to study.

At Buckingham, I?will be building on 40?years of fine work, pioneered by its first principal, Max Beloff, and continued so capably by my predecessor, Terence Kealey. I?want Buckingham to become a distinguished academic institution, providing high-quality degrees and conducting world-class research in a?variety of fields. Because its funding does not come from 바카라사이트 state, it should be free to devise innovative courses that appeal to 바카라사이트 students and that truly educate 바카라사이트m. Driving this forward is an opportunity I?relish.

Sir Anthony Seldon is headmaster of Wellington College. He will take over as vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University of?Buckingham on 1 September 2015.