Election day

As Britain goes to the polls, the future of higher education has never looked more uncertain, writes Alison Goddard.

Polling stations opened an hour ago in what promises to be a very closely fought general election. Many newspapers are urging their readers to vote along predictable lines but polls suggest that no single party will achieve an overall majority. The outcome of the election could have a profound effect upon the financial stability of British universities that will play out over the coming days, weeks and months. A British exit from the EU, a funding gap resulting from lower tuition fees in England and the devolution of Scottish research all remain possible outcomes.

BBC Radio 4’s Today programme is in its strangely apolitical mode, broadcasting a curious thin soup of content. There is a smattering of higher education-related news in today’s newspapers. Edward Peck of Nottingham Trent University has told the Daily Telegraph that universities need to heed their drop-out rates. It also has a column arguing that the university experience is no fun these days. And Wales Online says that Cardiff University has seen a spike in the number of students undertaking studies abroad.