Universities 'failing in role' says findings of think-tank launched by Shropshire MP Owen Paterson

UK2020 has released a report has claimed that students are paying over the odds without receiving a full-time education.

'Timebomb - How the university cartel is failing Britain’s students' was tonight being presented, after an investigation by the think tank, which has included interviewing students about their experiences.

UK2020 was set up by Mr Paterson to produce a manifesto for the Leader of the Conservative Party contesting the General Election in 2020.

In a forward by Mr Paterson and Lord Adonis, chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission, it says: "It is not often that politicians from such different parts of the spectrum come together on a major question of such national importance. But we are united in our desire to find a solution to the crisis in how students and universities are funded.

"Both our parties played a role in shaping the current system and we believe a cross-party approach is needed to fix its problems. These have been bubbling for years, more recently they have risen back up the political agenda and they burst into the open in the 2017 general election.

"It is often the case in politics that the law of unintended consequences can scupper well intentioned plans. The original concept of tuition fees, set at a reasonable level, with graduates and the government co-funding teaching to put universities on a more independent financial footing, was the right one.

"It has helped to increase substantially the proportion of young people who go on to higher education, particularly the number of those from less well-off backgrounds. In return, universities were supposed to deliver better teaching, innovate, and compete in a fast-moving world.

"This report shows that while the universities persuaded government to raise fees substantially, they acted like a cartel to block the progress we all hoped for.

"For universities, growing the quantity of students and the money they get from them appear to be the key objectives – at the expense of quality.

It adds: "The report clearly shows, backed up with extensive direct evidence from current undergraduates, that value for money for them, their parents and the taxpayer has suffered.

"Under the current system, more and more students will fail to repay and the taxpayer will suffer a growing, unsustainable cost as loans are forecast to rise to £1 trillion in cash terms over the next 30 years.

"Many of the report’s recommendations, centred on more two-year degrees, and higher standards of university transparency and teaching quality, provide real, practical solutions to these challenges. It proves there is real student appetite for reform. It also shows how one spin-off benefit would be to free up tens of thousands of much-needed homes in major cities.

"Two-year degrees, which some universities have already shown can be taught within the current annual fee cap, would transform value for money for students and reduce the demand on the taxpayer. They would not threaten universities, but provide a real opportunity for innovation and international growth, helping British exports.

"It is high time for universities to meet the challenge of reform that is laid out in such clear terms in this report so that they improve the quality of education they provide young people and deliver much better value both for students and for the whole country."