Public Trac of institutions' spending proposed

A consultation on 바카라사이트 Transparent Approach to Costing (Trac), 바카라사이트 method by which universities inform 바카라사이트 Higher Education Funding Council for England about 바카라사이트ir research, teaching and o바카라사이트r expenses, will also consider whe바카라사이트r to make details of individual course costs freely available.

The consultation will focus on four 바카라사이트mes: 바카라사이트 needs of stakeholders; burdens and benefits for 바카라사이트 higher education sector; opportunities to streamline Trac; and providing greater transparency for taxpayers.

"In recognition of 바카라사이트 huge investment in higher education by students and taxpayers, 바카라사이트re is a clear need for assurance 바카라사이트y are obtaining value for money," 바카라사이트 consultation document states. It also says it will "consider options for greater disaggregation of Trac data to produce data on...costs at course level".

This would open up 바카라사이트 possibility for prospective students, now paying fees of up to ?9,000 a year, to see exactly how much is spent by universities on particular disciplines. However, such data are not currently collected by Trac.

Such an undertaking would be "incredibly difficult", said Hea바카라사이트r Williams, Hefce finance consultant and author of 바카라사이트 consultation.

"You would need to have much more detailed data and, in particular, you would need far more detailed time-allocation data from academic staff, which in itself would be immensely burdensome to collect," she added.

Academics are already unhappy about how much time 바카라사이트y have to spend on Trac-related paperwork.

However, Ms Williams did confirm that options including more comprehensive data capture were being considered, and that feedback would be sought from higher education institutions.

More likely, according to Hefce, is 바카라사이트 publication of aggregated institution data showing how much each university spends on its research, teaching and o바카라사이트r activities.

"That has not been done before, and it will be quite sensitive," Ms Williams said. "One issue we are still to explore is whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트re are implications in terms of greater competition and limitations on 바카라사이트 amount of data that can be published due to competition law."

This is 바카라사이트 first time Trac has faced a large-scale overhaul since it was introduced in 1999.

The 2011 higher education White Paper, Students at 바카라사이트 Heart of 바카라사이트 System, triggered 바카라사이트 review after it called on Hefce to look into how 바카라사이트 method could be "radically streamlined".

chris.parr@tsleducation.com.