{"id":5798,"date":"2017-07-21T11:03:23","date_gmt":"2017-07-21T11:03:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/cel\/?p=5798"},"modified":"2017-07-21T11:05:13","modified_gmt":"2017-07-21T11:05:13","slug":"he-policy-update-we-21st-july-2017","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/2017\/07\/21\/he-policy-update-we-21st-july-2017\/","title":{"rendered":"HE policy update w\/e 21st July 2017"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>REF 2021 and outcome of Stern Review \u2013 staff selection<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"http:\/\/wonkhe.com\/blogs\/analysis-update-reforms-ref-2021\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">blog from David Sweeney on Wonkhe s<\/a>ets out the approach to staff selection post Stern.\u00a0At BU we wanted all staff to be returned to avoid pressure on the sector to shift staff to teaching only contracts. The new definition will be \u201call staff with a significant responsibility for research\u201d. Only one output per staff member will be required. \u201cWe will expect institutions to develop codes of practice setting out their processes for identifying staff in scope for submission. In no case is there a requirement to focus this discussion on the formal contract of employment, and we would expect codes of practice to be clear on this point.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>100% of academics with a \u201csignificant responsibility\u201d to undertake research will be included. The 100% number will be determined based on contractual status on a census date.<\/li>\n<li>Staff without a significant responsibility for research can be exempt from inclusion. Auditable documentation will be required which explicitly evidences there is not an expectation of them to undertake research (examples given were workload models or career frameworks linked to the individual).<\/li>\n<li>Everyone submitted will need a minimum of 1 output. The average and maximum outputs per FTE are to be determined.<\/li>\n<li>Portability of outputs (where a staff member moves from one institution to another during the REF period) \u2013 2 options:\n<ul>\n<li>Simple model whereby both old and new institutions can submit the outputs produced by the academic member of staff when he\/she was employed at the old institution (this will result in double counting of outputs).<\/li>\n<li>Complex model whereby a census date and employment range date are used to determine which outputs can be submitted by which institution.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>More information:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>There is a <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hefce.ac.uk\/rsrch\/ref2021\/events\/?utm_content=bufferac8d6&amp;utm_medium=social&amp;utm_source=twitter.com&amp;utm_campaign=buffer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recording of the HEFCE webinar<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.hefce.ac.uk\/rsrch\/ref2021\/webinarfaq\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">FAQ<\/a>s<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/blog.hefce.ac.uk\/2017\/07\/20\/the-portability-or-non-portability-of-research\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The portability or non-portability of research<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The four REF 2021 Main Panel Chairs (designate) are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Medicine, health and life sciences \u2013 Professor John Iredale, Pro Vice-Chancellor Health, University of Bristol<\/li>\n<li>Physical sciences, engineering and mathematics \u2013 Professor David Price, Vice-Provost (Research), University College London<\/li>\n<li>Social sciences \u2013 Professor Jane Millar OBE, Professor of Social Policy and former Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research, University of Bath.<\/li>\n<li>Arts and humanities \u2013 Professor Dinah Birch CBE, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Research and Impact, University of Liverpool.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>TEF \u2013 TEF, subject level TEF and teaching intensity<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jo Johnson has announced that LEO (long-term employment data) would be included in the TEF going forwards. The year 3 provider-level submission specification will be published later this year. Institutions with three-year TEF awards (most institutions) do not have to resubmit in year 3 but can choose to.<\/p>\n<p>He also announced that the OfS would start early \u2013 in January 2018.<\/p>\n<p>Jo Johnson <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/jo-johnson-delivering-value-for-money-for-students-and-taxpayers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">has announced the subject level TEF pilots <\/a>and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/teaching-excellence-framework-subject-level-pilot-specification\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">specification has been published<\/a> &#8211; \u201c<em>the biggest improvement TEF will make to the information on offer to students will be to produce ratings at subject-level. We know that most students choose their subject first, and then choose between providers offering that subject. Students need to know how a provider\u2019s teaching quality will relate to them in the subject they are looking to study<\/em>\u201c<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Subject level TEF pilots are \u201copt-in\u201d \u2013 HEFCE will select 30-40 providers from across the sector (they will want to include a range e.g. different sizes of institutions, alternative providers, FE colleges, specialist institutions, post 92 and pre-92, high v medium and low tariff institutions, TEF Bronze, Silver and Gold \u2013 and spread of subjects). No subject level ratings will be published and participants \u201cwill work with HEFCE and DfE to evolve the design of subject-level TEF throughout the pilots\u201d.<\/li>\n<li>As expected, \u201csubject-level TEF will be fully implemented in Year 5, with assessments in academic year 2019\/20 and subject-level ratings published in spring 2020.\u201d Most institutions that participated in year 2, unless they choose to go for another award early, will be submitting in year 5.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You can read more about subject level TEF on the <a href=\"https:\/\/staffintranet.bournemouth.ac.uk\/aboutbu\/professionalservices\/ovc\/policyandpublicaffairsatbu\/highereducationreform\/teachingexcellenceframework\/subject-leveltef\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">BU policy intranet pages<\/a> \u2013 there is a <a href=\"http:\/\/wonkhe.com\/blogs\/roll-up-roll-up-for-subject-level-tef\/?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=The%20Wonkhe%20Daily%20-%20Friday%2021st%20July&amp;utm_content=The%20Wonkhe%20Daily%20-%20Friday%2021st%20July+CID_702900466260594b621ff3c7ca017f23&amp;utm_source=Email%20marketing%20software&amp;utm_term=digest\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">useful Wonkhe article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>There will also be a pilot for a <strong>teaching intensity measure &#8211; <\/strong>collecting data on contact hours, staff-student ratios and class sizes through institutional declarations and a student survey.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>For this, they cite Gibbs, G., 2010. Dimensions of quality. York: Higher Education Academy \u201cThe most important conclusion of (Dimensions of Quality) is that what best predicts educational gain is measures of educational process: what institutions do with their resources to make the most of whatever students they have.\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201cThe methods that we are piloting consider not just contact hours, but also class size, staff-student ratios, placements and field work to build up a more rounded picture of the nature, as well as the amount, of the teaching received\u201c \u2013 but that is not supported by the actual metrics proposed &#8211; two measures will be in the pilot:\n<ul>\n<li>\u201cA provider declaration of the contact hours they are providing, weighted by staff-student ratios, to get a measure of teaching intensity (using a \u2018weighted contact hours\u2019 measure as well as taking into account provision such as placements, field work and e-learning).\u201d<\/li>\n<li>\u201c A student survey on number of contact hours, self-directed study and whether they consider the contact hours are sufficient to fulfil their learning needs\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li>But \u2013 to support the metrics \u2013 and in a parallel to the year 2 TEF where the metrics were limited but the submission was broader, they are allowing for a provider declaration which covers a broader scope:<\/li>\n<li>Proposed subjects to test this are:\n<ul>\n<li>Nursing<\/li>\n<li>Physics and astronomy<\/li>\n<li>Creative arts and design<\/li>\n<li>History and archaeology<\/li>\n<li>Law<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Student contracts &#8211; <\/strong>In his s<a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/jo-johnson-delivering-value-for-money-for-students-and-taxpayers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">peech on 20<sup>th<\/sup> July, Jo Johnson<\/a> announced that the OfS would be asked to look at requiring universities to enter into contracts with students \u2013 going beyond the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/collections\/higher-education-consumer-law-advice-for-providers-and-students\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">current guidance from the CMA <\/a>and others.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201c<em>One of the first things I will be asking the OfS to do in exercising its new powers is to consult on the system-wide introduction of student contracts between students and universities.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>These would set out what students can expect from their providers in terms of resource commitments, contact time, assessments, support and other important aspects of their educational experience.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>Although contracts do exist in various forms in some institutions, most of them do not provide enough detail to be useful, or to allow students to know what they can expect from their providers in terms of resource commitments, contact time, assessments, support and other important aspects of their educational experience.<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em>I intend to consult on whether a systematic use of an improved student-contract would help ensure effective consumer protection for students paying what will for many be their third largest life-long expenditure after a home and pension plan<\/em>.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Tuition Fees \u2013 <\/strong>This week tuition fees continued to receive much attention in the media, an emergency debate was held on Wednesday, and Jo Johnson spoke out on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>In <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/jo-johnson-delivering-value-for-money-for-students-and-taxpayers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">his speech on 20<sup>th<\/sup> July, Jo Johnson<\/a> rejected calls for changes to the tuition fee system. He highlighted \u201c<em>three big misconceptions<\/em>\u201d:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>\u201c<em>the idea that the interest rate on student loans is excessive, even usurious<\/em>\u201d \u2013 there is a detailed examination of this in the speech \u2013 concluding that the Bank of England reference rate for interest on personal loans is 7.5%<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<em>the suggestion that because a significant proportion of students do not repay in full the system is broken<\/em>\u201d \u2013 he says that\u2019s the point \u2013 this is the government\u2019s contribution<\/li>\n<li>\u201c<em>and most indefensibly, the accusation that the system is deterring the poorest students from university<\/em>\u201d \u2013 he cites data that shows this is not the case- and mentions dropout rates too.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In his speech, the minister highlights steps on value for money:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Accelerated degrees<\/li>\n<li>Alternative providers<\/li>\n<li>TEF \u2013 and the changes noted above including LEO salary and employment data, subject level TEF, teaching intensity measure and making TEF compulsory<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>This week Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell weighed in on the wider tuition fees speculation confirming it is very unlikely that a Labour government would be able to afford to write off all of the debt of graduates who are repaying their fees. This is estimated to cost in the region of \u00a3100bn. However, it is probable that the Labour Party will continue to talk about their ambition to abolish fees for future cohorts of students. Read more in <a href=\"http:\/\/lighthousepolicygroup.net\/blog\/2017\/07\/11\/fees-loans-and-debt-context-for-the-national-conversation\/\">Jane\u2019s blog for the Lighthouse Policy Group<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"http:\/\/russellgroup.ac.uk\/news\/blog-sustainable-funding-in-higher-education\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Russell Group have called for changes<\/a> to repayment arrangements, including interest rates, repayment thresholds and proposing a salary sacrifice scheme so that repayments are from tax-free income.<\/p>\n<p>Research Professional focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchprofessional.com\/0\/rr\/he\/government\/other-politics\/2017\/Johnson-defends-tuition-fee-status-quo-in-England.html?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=rpMailing&amp;utm_campaign=personalNewsDailyUpdate_2017-07-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the challenges to Labour<\/a> during the emergency debate; and the UCU report which states middle-life mid-earners will lose more than 50% of the earnings between tax, NI and student loan repayments (article: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchprofessional.com\/0\/rr\/he\/student-trends\/2017\/7\/Student-debt-creates-mid-life-tax-crises.html?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=rpMailing&amp;utm_campaign=personalNewsDailyUpdate_2017-07-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Student debt creates \u2018mid-life tax crises\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>EU Withdrawal (Repeal) Bill &#8211; i<\/strong>n response to the government\u2019s publishing of the EU (Withdrawal) Bill the first ministers of Scotland and Wales have issued a joint statement expressing disappointment that former EU powers would not devolve to the Welsh Assembly and Scottish Parliament. In the statement, there were hints that both devolved assemblies may withhold legislative consent. This would not block the passage of the bill although it would be politically embarrassing for the Westminster government. Campaign groups such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.the3million.org.uk\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the3million<\/a> have also taken to social media to raise awareness of a clause that allows the UK government to restrict the right of EU citizens in the event of \u201cno deal\u201d.<\/p>\n<p><strong>International Students <\/strong>\u2013 there was an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchprofessional.com\/0\/rr\/he\/government\/other-politics\/2017\/May-warned-over-international-students.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interesting piece in Research Professional from Paul Blomfield MP<\/a> re: net migration figures. It seems unlikely that Conservative MPs will want to precipitate a crisis, however strongly they feel about international students; better to wait until the new proposals on immigration come out \u00a0&#8211; we haven\u2019t seen the Bill yet that was announced in the Queen\u2019s speech (although that may be mostly about Brexit) and the long promised consultation on wider immigration issues from October\u2019s party conference has not emerged either (this may be in the long grass, given the focus on Brexit and related EU immigration matters).<\/p>\n<p>Opportunities to raise the issue include debates in the Lords (not yet scheduled) on:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/services.parliament.uk\/bills\/2017-19\/immigrationcontrolgrosshumanrightsabuses.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">The Immigration Control (Gross Human Rights Abuses) Bill<\/a> \u2013 Private Member\u2019s Bill &#8211; started in the Lords in June<\/li>\n<li>The <a href=\"http:\/\/services.parliament.uk\/bills\/2017-19\/eeanationalsindefiniteleavetoremain.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">EEA Nationals (Indefinite Leave to Remain) Bill<\/a> \u2013 Private Member\u2019s Bill &#8211; also started in the Lords in July (in defiance of the government proposals made to the EU)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Meanwhile Germany has reported the goal to significantly increase international student volume by 2020 has already been achieved. This autumn 355,000 additional students will study in a German university. The German Academic Exchange Service states Germany is now the fifth most popular destination. <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchprofessional.com\/0\/rr\/news\/europe\/germany\/2017\/7\/International-student-target-met-three-years-early.html?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=rpMailing&amp;utm_campaign=personalNewsDailyUpdate_2017-07-19\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Comprehensive Universities? &#8211; <\/strong>In a paper published on 20<sup>th<\/sup> July by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), Professor Tim Blackman, the VC of Middlesex University calls for a n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hepi.ac.uk\/2017\/07\/20\/new-report-calls-comprehensive-universities-improve-social-mobility\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ew comprehensive model in higher education<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The paper points out the inconsistency between the intense scrutiny given to selective schools (the recent grammar schools debate) and the approach taken in universities \u2013 \u201c<em>Instead, the less selective institutions are labelled \u2018low status\u2019 and social mobility measures are focused on small numbers of young people from low-income families gaining places in very selective \u2018hig<\/em><em>h status\u2019 <\/em><em>universities<\/em>\u201d. As with grammar schools, it is argued <em>\u201chighly-selective universities are damaging not only less selective universities but also the average achievement of all students<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>So the paper proposes steps to introduce the a comprehensive model for HE:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>require a fixed proportion of entry to be open access along the lines of the school academies that are allowed to use selection but only for a fixed proportion of their intake; or<\/li>\n<li>a minimum matriculation requirement, based on minimum threshold standards across the sector, but low enough to make a significant impact on the barrier to access created by high-entry requirements. Excess demand could be managed using a lottery.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>And, a financial incentive \u2013 it proposes that universities with high percentages of students from the top 1-3 social classes pay a levy from their fair access pot which allows universities with lower percentages of such students to offer facilities that would attract those students (not scholarships or free places). And the Russell Group could keep some to support their new open access students.<\/p>\n<p>Research Professional report on the HEPI paper: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.researchprofessional.com\/0\/rr\/he\/agencies\/other\/2017\/7\/Universities-should-be-fined-for-low-socioeconomic-diversity.html?utm_medium=email&amp;utm_source=rpMailing&amp;utm_campaign=personalNewsDailyUpdate_2017-07-20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Universities \u2018should be fined for low socioeconomic diversity\u2019<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Industrial Strategy Commission <\/strong>have analysed the Government\u2019s industrial policy and published their findings in the report <a href=\"http:\/\/industrialstrategycommission.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Laying-the-Foundations-the-Industrial-Strategy-Commission.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Laying the Foundations<\/a><\/p>\n<p>On <u>Research and skills<\/u> (page 35 of the report) it critiques:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The strength of the research base and the wider skills agenda are seldom considered together &#8211; a damaging error.<\/li>\n<li>The existing split between higher education and further education has been harmful; the increasing involvement of universities &#8211; including research intensive universities with intermediate level skills, including apprenticeships, should be welcomed and supported.<\/li>\n<li>There is now the danger of a new split between teaching and research in English universities as responsibilities previously held by HEFCE are split between the Office for Students and Research England. This should be mitigated, the involvement of research councils with the skills agenda at the PhD level should be further supported, building on their existing strong networks with industry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In <u>Significant skills challenges<\/u> it establishes:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The UK\u2019s technical education system is very weak by international standards.<\/li>\n<li>Only 10% of 20-45 year olds hold technical education as their highest qualification, placing the UK 16<sup>th<\/sup> out of 20 OECD countries.<\/li>\n<li>By 2020, the UK is set to fall to 28th out of 32 OECD countries for intermediate (upper-secondary) skills.<\/li>\n<li>The UK has a small and underperforming technical sector, largely underfunded, hardly noticed, and run in totally different and too often disconnected ways from either the higher education or school sectors that sit either side of it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For a quick yet overall more rounded picture of the full report read the <a href=\"http:\/\/industrialstrategycommission.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Laying-the-Foundations-the-Industrial-Strategy-Commission.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Shortcomings<\/a> on pages 13-16 and the <a href=\"http:\/\/industrialstrategycommission.org.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/07\/Laying-the-Foundations-the-Industrial-Strategy-Commission.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Executive Summary<\/a> on pages 4-5.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Student Retention<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The Social Market foundation and the UPP Foundation have issued a report about student retention. The main story which was covered in the press related to students from ethnic minority and disadvantaged backgrounds that are more likely to drop out of university.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Dropout rates are also higher in London (it\u2019s fairly low in the South-West) \u2013 driven possibly by both the factors above as well as London specific issues.<\/li>\n<li>They say they have focussed on younger first degree students. However they show clearly that drop out rates are much higher for mature students.<\/li>\n<li>There is a suggestion of lower drop out rates from campus universities \u2013 although the data is not compelling, they say. They also note possible links with students living at home \u2013 in some regions this correlates with dropout rates but not all.<\/li>\n<li>They also suggest that low NSS scores correlate to higher drop out rates \u2013 this is based on question 22, overall satisfaction.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>They recommend:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A target for addressing the completion gap for black and disadvantaged students \u2013 they also want this to be addressed in Access Agreements as part of the shift of focus in OFFA from access to progression and attainment<\/li>\n<li>Specific work in London on transport, housing and leisure<\/li>\n<li>OfS to introduce awards for institutions who facilitate transfers to other universities (interesting \u2013 we still don\u2019t know what the outcome of the consultation on credit transfer will be)<\/li>\n<li>An Innovation Challenge Fund to finance existing ideas to address the high dropout rates mons some ethnic minority groups<\/li>\n<li>Better preparation for university through outreach (which is relevant to the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.hepi.ac.uk\/2017\/07\/04\/university-applicants-set-shock-system\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">recent HEPI report (Reality Check)<\/a> on applicant perceptions)<\/li>\n<li>Reviewing clearing \u2013 does it have an impact in terms of poor choices?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>They also suggest some actions for universities:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Providing employment through the university<\/li>\n<li>Monitoring and early intervention through learning analytics<\/li>\n<li>\u201cnudging\u201d interventions<\/li>\n<li>replicating the networks created on a campus university<\/li>\n<li>and more to do on mature students<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Horizon 2020 underwritten &#8211; <\/strong>The safeguarding of Horizon 2020 was been <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/news\/safeguarding-funding-for-research-and-innovation\">trailed<\/a> on several occasions during 2016 but with limited details. However, on Tuesday Jo Johnson confirmed the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/instruct-european-research-infrastructure-consortia-eric-inaugural-event\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">government&#8217;s commitment to underwrite the funding for all successful bids made by UK applicants for Horizon 2020<\/a> projects before the UK exits the EU. Jo Johnson said:<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI appreciate that the UK\u2019s decision to leave the EU has caused uncertainty for the research community. Nobody in Europe benefits from the loss of research competitiveness that may occur if we let ourselves get distracted from maintaining research excellence through collaboration; it fundamentally underpins the way it is done today. This is why the UK government acted quickly to underwrite competitively bid for EU funding. I will now aim to provide clarification on how this will work as I want to put any uncertainty to rest.\u201d <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/speeches\/instruct-european-research-infrastructure-consortia-eric-inaugural-event\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n<p>The underwriting applies to both projects that are on-going at the point of the UK&#8217;s EU exit, and funding that is applied for before the UK&#8217;s exit and is subsequently successful. It also includes Horizon 2020 calls with two-stage procedures, as long as the first application is submitted before the UK leaves the EU. Updated <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ukro.ac.uk\/authoring\/public\/Documents\/factsheet_referendum_public.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">FAQs<\/a> are expected to be issued in due course.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Higher level Apprenticeships &#8211; <\/strong>This week the Department for Education published an update on vocational qualification showing the greatest increase in apprenticeship participation was at \u2018higher level\u2019 with 58,200 in 2016\/17, a rise of over 50% on 2015\/16.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>REF 2021 and outcome of Stern Review \u2013 staff selection A blog from David Sweeney on Wonkhe sets out the approach to staff selection post Stern.\u00a0At BU we wanted all staff to be returned to avoid pressure on the sector to shift staff to teaching only contracts. The new definition will be \u201call staff with&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/2017\/07\/21\/he-policy-update-we-21st-july-2017\/\">Read more &raquo;<span class=\"sr-only\"> about HE policy update w\/e 21st July 2017<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1475,"featured_media":4847,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[104,138,371,308,491,5,369,321,326,537,259,129],"tags":[387,390,304,322,323,624,355,496],"class_list":["post-5798","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-employability","category-eu","category-funding-stream","category-he-students","category-learning-analytics","category-news","category-policy","category-ref2021","category-research","category-student","category-tef","category-widening-participation","tag-apprenticeships","tag-brexit","tag-international-students","tag-ref2021","tag-stern","tag-student-contracts","tag-tef","tag-tuition-fees"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5798","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1475"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5798"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5798\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5800,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5798\/revisions\/5800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5798"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5798"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/microsites.bournemouth.ac.uk\/flie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5798"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}