Reform report - 'The Mobile Economy'

26 November 2008

Director General of the Russell Group, Dr Wendy Piatt, said:

“As the report highlights, we must ensure that the UK’s leading research-intensive universities have the resources and autonomy to continue to excel in conducting world-class research and teaching in an increasingly competitive global marketplace.

“International comparisons of universities have shown that the most successful universities are those that are allowed to operate independently – particularly those with autonomy over their budgets.

“We think it is important to have an evidence-based policy on the vital issue of how research-intensive universities can continue to excel in conducting world-class research and teaching in an increasingly competitive global marketplace where our primary competitors are enjoying much higher levels of investment.

“We are therefore undertaking research into the impact of different funding regimes across the world to determine a package of proposals which is both fair with regard to contributions made by the student, the government and other key stakeholders, and which will give universities access to increased funds. Variable fees are clearly one of those options but we want to complete our research on the impact of any funding regime on a range of factors, particularly on access before advocating one specific policy proposal.”

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