Universities in England should expect some cuts to their funding a year before the revenue from higher tuition fees starts flowing into institutions, David Willetts has told a cross-party group of MPs.
More than 拢200 million will be invested in a network of innovation hubs to improve links between universities and business, David Cameron has announced.
An indication by David Willetts that the government is leaning towards retaining a hard cap on tuition fees has provoked a swift response from the elite research universities, which have lobbied hard for the cap to be abolished.
David Willetts has set out further details of the government鈥檚 plans for reforming the academy, announcing that proposals on the future of tuition fees will be submitted to Parliament before Christmas.
King's College London has confirmed the controversial departure of Britain's only professor of palaeography, praising his role in "tirelessly protecting" the discipline.
At a time when public finances were in a dire state and much of the country was still badly bomb-damaged, the 1951 Festival of Britain provided a perfect "tonic for the nation".
The imposition of a minimum entry standard for university would put the government in control of what is traditionally a key area of academic judgement and allow it to restrict student places, vice-chancellors warned this week.
Government funding for higher education is to be cut by 40 per cent over four years, suggesting that public funding for teaching in the arts, humanities and social sciences may come to an end.
The government has been warned of the potential for disastrous consequences if it does not pause for thought before embracing Lord Browne鈥檚 proposals for reform of higher education while implementing significant cuts in today鈥檚 Comprehensive Spending Review.
The president of Universities UK has told vice-chancellors to expect cuts of 拢4.2 billion in the government鈥檚 spending review 鈥 and warned that a huge funding gap is a 鈥渢errible danger鈥.
Students from poor backgrounds will receive help to attend university as part of a wider 拢7 billion 鈥渇airness premium鈥 announced today by Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister.
Lord Browne's review calls for "genuine competition for students between institutions of a kind which cannot take place under the current system". Here's how it would work: