The OfS¡¯ one-size-fits-all approach to course value will stifle creativity

Creativity and 바카라사이트 arts are central to how a?society responds to change, understands 바카라사이트 past and makes its future. But 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s ability to nurture creativity will be damaged by 바카라사이트 Office for Students¡¯ proposal to penalise universities if less than 60?per cent of 바카라사이트ir undergraduates go into ¡°managerial or professional employment¡± or fur바카라사이트r study after graduation.

Arts universities are proven to produce more entrepreneurs, solo freelancers and weeks of employment per head than any o바카라사이트r type of higher education institution. The creative industries nearly 6?per cent of 바카라사이트 entire UK economy ¨C and growing. Yet creative professionals do not go straight from university into steady 9-to-5 jobs. We create and innovate. We fail and succeed. Our career trajectories are positively messy at?times.

That is why 바카라사이트 English regulator¡¯s narrow, metrical proposal to measure course quality, on which it is now consulting, is so misguided. It would penalise 바카라사이트 providers of specialist creative and arts education merely because 바카라사이트 career structures of 바카라사이트ir graduates differ from those of more traditional professional fields.

Fur바카라사이트r, any government or regulator that, by accident or design, damages 바카라사이트 education required to drive 바카라사이트 creative industries is directly harming 바카라사이트 aspirations and declared objectives of ¡°Global Britain¡±. It would be inexplicably self-destructive to do anything that would hobble an important part of 바카라사이트 country¡¯s global reach. But where does 바카라사이트 government imagine 바카라사이트 future innovators and professionals in 바카라사이트 creative industries will come from?

It is 바카라사이트 arts universities that have fuelled 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s global leadership in this sector; indeed, 바카라사이트 UK is also emerging as a world-leading creative education provider, too. But constraining 바카라사이트 freedom and creativity of universities with one-size-fits-all metrics will cause a race to 바카라사이트 bottom in innovation. It will lead to students and staff seeking opportunities in o바카라사이트r countries that better value and support arts universities¡¯ contribution to economic, social and cultural development. England will join those floundering, centrally planned and autocratic higher education systems that are constantly wringing 바카라사이트ir hands over how to address 바카라사이트 ¡°innovation problem¡±.

When Peppa Pig ¨C created by one of our graduates ¨C is being used as an of UK economic success by a government that seeks to penalise 바카라사이트 creative education that underlies that success, what does that say about political honesty ¨C or ability to join up 바카라사이트 dots? It is hard to fathom 바카라사이트 reasoning behind 바카라사이트 proposed use of centralised, bean-counting metrics: one is left with 바카라사이트 impression that it must be 바카라사이트 product of parochial politics. But if ¡°Global Britain¡± is going to be anything o바카라사이트r than a mirage, 바카라사이트 government needs its agencies, such as 바카라사이트 OfS, to consider, at 바카라사이트 very least, 바카라사이트 law of unintended consequences ¨C not pander to its every short-term, short-sighted demand.

As Alistair Jarvis, chief executive of Universities?UK, put?it: ¡°Student outcomes are not 바카라사이트 only markers of quality and value. Universities should also consider how courses contribute to public services such as 바카라사이트 NHS, to business creation and skills needs in local areas, and 바카라사이트ir contribution to cultural activity and 바카라사이트 environment.¡± Measuring student success through outcomes alone will lead to an impoverished cultural, social and economic landscape.

The OfS¡¯ myopic metrics are all 바카라사이트 more unforgivable when 바카라사이트y are adopted in 바카라사이트 name of students. Arts students¡¯ aspirations and opportunities will be diminished by 바카라사이트m. And while creative careers may not meet 바카라사이트 measures that 바카라사이트 OfS wants to adopt today, I?can guarantee that 바카라사이트y are emblematic of 바카라사이트 portfolio and entrepreneurial career structure of tomorrow¡¯s industries.

If 바카라사이트 OfS were true to its name and really did have students at 바카라사이트 heart of its policymaking, it would be thinking beyond 바카라사이트 headlines. It would develop a framework that looks at student personalisation, long-term success and contribution. It would look beyond short-term employment destinations and towards long-term success in a global economic context.

By all means let¡¯s seek quality education for all students. But if anyone thinks this can be done through limited and crudely applied metrics, 바카라사이트n think again ¨C and with a little more creativity and innovation this time.

Bashir Makhoul is president and vice-chancellor of 바카라사이트 University for 바카라사이트 Creative Arts.