News story

Lord Browne report on higher education

Lord Browne has today published his report "Securing a Sustainable Future for Higher Education in the UK"

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The Independent Review of Higher Education Funding and Student Finance, launched on 9 November 2009, was tasked with making recommendations to the government on the future of fees policy and financial support for full and part-time undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Read the report (BIS website).

Some of the key recommendations in the report include removing the current cap on fees allowing universities to put quality first and charge accordingly.

Lord Browne has also recommended that after leaving university, graduates will only begin repaying when they reach annual earnings of over £21,000 a year, up from £15,000 under the current system.

At a press conference earlier this week, the Prime Minister said:

I hope everyone can come together and say, ‘Look, we want the same thing here - good universities, widening access, participation from people in low-income homes and a system that can take on the world and that is affordable in our own country.’ That is the prize and I think there will be people across the political spectrum who actually can get together and support that.

The government will make an oral statement to Parliament in response at 3.30pm today.

Published 12 October 2010