Following decisions taken at the HEFCE Board meeting on 9 March, HEFCE will invest £3.7 billion in recurrent and capital funding for universities and colleges in the academic year 2016-17.
The announcement follows the grant letter from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to HEFCE of 4 March (Note 1), which sets out the Government’s priorities for higher education for the coming year.
The key elements of the £3.7 billion funding are:
Research £1.6 billion
Teaching £1.4 billion
Knowledge exchange £0.2 billion
Capital funding £0.5 billion
National facilities and initiatives £0.1 billion (Note 2).
Funding for recurrent research has increased by £20 million compared with 2015-16, while funding for knowledge exchange is maintained in cash terms. Funding for teaching has been reduced by £21 million. Within teaching, the total budget for high-cost subjects such as science, technology, engineering and mathematics will be maintained in real terms.
New funding for geographically-focused national outreach will target places where students have the educational attainment or potential to succeed but where there is evidence that entry rates are below expectations (Note 3). The funding for this will be £30 million for 2016-17, rising to £60 million from 2017‑18.
This approach will enable progress towards the Prime Minister’s goal of increasing the participation of disadvantaged and black and ethnic minority students (Note 4).
Funding for widening access and improving provision for disabled students will be doubled in 2016-17 to £40 million.