Innovation Universities Science and Skills Select Committee: Inquiry into Students and Universities

Read the recommendations from the HEA as well as its response to the findings of the Select Committee.

The main recommendations in our evidence are:

• There is no need for greater external monitoring of the sector(1.2)
• Students need to be properly prepared for higher education (2.2 2.3.)
• The benefits of higher education should be made widely available  (2.4)
• The sector needs to work to adapt provision to meet a wider range of student expectations (2.4)
• Teaching and research are both important components of the student experience and cannot be separated (3.3)
• University teaching should be excellent based on national criteria and be properly rewarded and recognised (3.1 3.3 3.8)
• The extent to which the Professional Standards Framework is used to share good practice should be reviewed (3.6)
• That the recommendations of the Burgess group on degree classification be taken forward (4.2)
• That incremental changes to quality assurance recommended in the report from our Chief Executive to the Secretary of State take effect (4.5)
• That contact hours are not taken as a proxy for quality in the student experience (4.6)
• That the idea of students as ‘customers’ be discouraged (5.1) and student engagement be promoted.