12 June 2018 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
Last week we had a couple of articles covering a lot of commentary about value and Value for Money. The first reflected on an article by OfS Chief Executive Nicola Dandridge on how the regulator will approach its VfM responsibilities, and how that might be met by providing more and better information for students. The second followed a number of articles by the Wonkhe team on how the sector might, in a manner more convincing than Vote Leave, take back control of the broader ‘value’ debate.
In the days since, the debate has hardly died down with a major report from the Lords’ Economic Affairs committee on the economics of post-16 education making a splash. While the DfE’s ongoing review of post-18 education is tasked with finding solutions within the rails of the existing framework, the Lords’ effort pulls no such punches. In summary; “The system of post-school education in England is not a system. It is unbalanced in favour of full time university degrees, and as a result offers poor value for money to individuals, taxpayers and the economy. It requires immediate reform.” Here’s committee Chair Lord Forsyth making the case in an article for Wonkhe.
