Newcastle University

It is common cause that UK higher education is highly rated around the world, and that adequate funding is necessary to continue this advantage. Given the Government’s decision to cut back on public spending, the Browne review offers the only comprehensive and detailed set of proposals on how to fund universities adequately and at the same time provide a fair deal for students.

We subscribe to the principles that a university education should be free at the point of use, repayment should be equitable, and living allowances should be adequate. We welcome the creation of a National Scholarship fund to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds.  We are committed to the ideal of a research-intensive university providing research-informed teaching to the benefit of students.

The new landscape will be different, and may be difficult, but it will also present many opportunities. At Newcastle University we can face the future with confidence. Our financial position is such that we can buffer any short-term consequences and plan properly for the medium to long term. The values we espouse, the vision we have articulated, and the commitments we have already made, are all entirely consonant with the new reality. These include our commitment to widening participation and fair access.

We understand that when students bear the greater part or all of the funding for their own education, expectations will rise, a market will operate, and provision will have to be attractive, well-organised and effectively delivered in high-class facilities. We have already anticipated such a future in our Vision 2021, where we affirm that we 

•    are committed to excellence  
•    value diversity
•    respond to societal challenges
•    accord parity of esteem to teaching and research
•    educate for life
•    are globally ambitious and regionally rooted, and  
•    invest in excellent staff.

We will continue to provide an outstanding education and student experience, with a dedicated cadre of talented educators and researchers, in a great city, to the benefit of civil society.