Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Leading Article: Another funding furore

Thursday 06 November 2008 01:00 GMT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The news that MPs on the innovation, universities and skills select committee are going to take a long, hard look at higher education is welcome — particularly in the light of the cock-up over grants. Undergraduate support is being cut after poor estimates were made of how many students were eligible for funds. The review will feed into the Government's review of top-up fees, providing some much-needed evidence on the extent to which the fees are hindering access.

We hope the committee will investigate another blunder, which will mean that universities can continue to play games to secure high rankings in the Research assessment Exercise. Universities no longer have to give details of exactly how many staff are active in research, which would have enabled observers to make a judgement about the strength of individual departments. The Higher Education Statistics Agency is blaming the Higher Education Funding Council for giving universities confusing advice on this issue. But a group of research-intensive universities threatened legal action if they were made to release information about staff numbers. If MPs can uncover what went on, the public should benefit.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in