The BSHS has joined 47 fellow learned societies to call for the UK government to improve funding support for higher education and address the vulnerabilities exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic. An open letter to the Ministers of Education emphasises the value of higher education to society and asks the UK government to re-think a funding model under which public spending on tertiary education is less than half of the average spending of other OECD countries.
A vibrant and robust higher education system is absolutely vital for the UK’s future. We believe that the current government funding model for higher education is inadequate for this task and we therefore call upon you to use the current crisis as an opportunity to create a new deal for higher education. Rather than providing a one-time bailout, it is paramount that the UK and devolved governments substantially increases public spending on tertiary education in line with the OECD average in order to ensure that our tertiary institutions remain at the forefront of global research, education and innovation.
