This morning the National Audit Office releases a devastating report into whether market dynamics in higher education support the government’s objectives. It makes for sobering reading and concludes, “If this was a regulated financial market, we would be raising the question of mis-selling.”
The work of the NAO in recent years has been to look at the delivery of public services through markets with a view to ensuring the nation spends wisely. So, today’s report doesn’t question the market’s place in higher education, but instead focuses on whether the one we have is operating effectively to deliver a good university experience. The answer would seem to be no.
A total of £9 billion is spent each year on grants and tuition-fee loans. The average debt on graduation is £50,000 for students on a three-year degree. But, only 58 per cent of 15 to 18-year-olds making decisions about higher education have received any form of financial information to prevent them from making poor choices. If student loans worked like other complex financial products, students would have access to better independent advice and greater consumer protection.
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