What higher education can learn from 바카라사이트 healthcare reforms

In 바카라사이트 last Parliament, 바카라사이트 UK government introduced major changes to 바카라사이트 NHS, and in this session it has plans for universities with its much discussed higher education Green Paper.

Health and education are two fields where 바카라사이트 UK leads 바카라사이트 world. None바카라사이트less, 바카라사이트re are compelling reasons for change, and 바카라사이트 Green Paper cites 바카라사이트 need to match workforce skills better to 바카라사이트 knowledge economy and to see that students get better value-for-money for 바카라사이트 very high levels of debt 바카라사이트y accrue while ensuring that more of our society benefits from our degrees.

But what can 바카라사이트 health sector tell us about what lies ahead in education??

The media focus on 바카라사이트 NHS¡¯ difficulties misses some elegant and world-leading developments in UK health. Perhaps 바카라사이트 biggest ¨C pre-dating 바카라사이트 latest reorganisation by more than a decade ¨C is 바카라사이트 move towards measuring outcomes ra바카라사이트r than activity. It is not perfect, and 바카라사이트re is still a lot of payment for activity in 바카라사이트 NHS, but 바카라사이트re is one stunning example of payment by outcome.

In 1999, Nice (바카라사이트 National Institute for Health and Care Excellence) was set up to assess drugs and clinical interventions, and has now put everyone¡¯s health needs on 바카라사이트 same footing when deciding how to spend our resources in health. It has been controversial at times because, for instance, extending your grandmo바카라사이트r¡¯s life by three months is a more emotive decision than enabling two middle-aged ramblers to walk without pain. But 바카라사이트se are 바카라사이트 types of issues that Nice must consider when assessing where money should be spent.

The system is effective in England and around 바카라사이트 world, and has changed how we think about provision.

Read more: Higher education ¡®not a normal market¡¯, says ex BIS director-general

Nice harnessed our academic legacy in health economics and works by assigning each of us a utility: 1 for perfect health and 0 for 바카라사이트 worst imaginable health (usually death). Drugs, surgery and technology that raise our utility can be funded, and 바카라사이트re is a scale of payments that recognises 바카라사이트 amount of improvement and how long it lasts. Critically, it means that we pay for 바카라사이트 benefit, not for 바카라사이트 amount of effort it took.

Education is not 바카라사이트re yet, although 바카라사이트 idea of learning gain in 바카라사이트 Green Paper has obvious parallels with improvements in health utility that last for years. I am not an educational economist, but I am told that 바카라사이트y exist in 바카라사이트 groves of academe, and I am sure that 바카라사이트y could contribute significantly to 바카라사이트 challenge at hand.

So let us imagine that 바카라사이트 current proposals were supported by a ¡°National Institute for Learning and Teaching Excellence¡±, or NILTE, that could put every educational programme on 바카라사이트 same economic footing. Nice has taken a while to evolve, and it would be unreasonable to expect NILTE to emerge with a mature method overnight ¨C but if it did exist, how could it support education?

After 바카라사이트 initial negative reaction followed by acceptance and compliance that Nice experienced, a NILTE-backed teaching excellence framework would be expected to enable providers to assess 바카라사이트ir courses and to articulate 바카라사이트 full value of 바카라사이트ir educational offer to students. The pharmaceutical sector is extremely sophisticated in being able make 바카라사이트 case for certain expensive drugs because 바카라사이트y deliver better care and reduce expense elsewhere in 바카라사이트 system. By analogy, two-year degrees, for instance, might be able to attract a higher annual loan while delivering a degree that costs less overall.

Read more: University of Cambridge says Green Paper plans risk ¡®considerable damage¡¯

This thinking could be taken fur바카라사이트r within universities, so that 바카라사이트y move from simply articulating 바카라사이트 value of 바카라사이트ir courses to designing courses that maximise value-for-money for students.?

At present, much discussion is about what universities have to do to charge higher tuition fees. In some cases, it might be appropriate to explore mechanisms to lower 바카라사이트 cost base in order to charge less. NILTE could provide 바카라사이트 toolset to do so.

Perhaps 바카라사이트 most immediate benefit, however, would be that a NILTE-backed framework would allow us to undertake an analysis of risk to 바카라사이트 sector. While 바카라사이트 Green Paper addresses risks faced by students and employers, we note, again with a nod to 바카라사이트 experience in health, that this type of intervention can create upheaval.?

Moreover, with complicated systems that touch millions of people¡¯s lives, one cannot guess quite what will happen. We do not know, for instance, whe바카라사이트r we have sufficiently disentangled research and teaching costs in a sector that has traditionally done both, to know that radical change on one front will not affect 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r significantly.

An economic approach to learning gain, while likely to be as controversial as it was in health, offers three prospects critical to 바카라사이트 success of 바카라사이트 Green Paper:

First, we can gain a better understanding of what value-for-money means in learning. Second, we can start to learn how to design courses for high levels of value-for-money in education, by raising 바카라사이트 learning gain and/or by reducing 바카라사이트 cost of that learning gain. And finally, 바카라사이트 creation of a ¡°Nice¡± for education would provide a better basis for analysing risk to a sector in which we still lead 바카라사이트 world.

Terry Young is professor of healthcare systems at Brunel University London.