UCU warns against greater business influence in university degrees

Responding to the High Level Skills consultation from the department of innovation, universities and skills (DIUS), UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The most effective way for universities to contribute to our society and economy is by allowing them to retain their principal missions as places of research and scholarship. Affording the private sector a major say in the curriculum today will mean less innovation and invention for tomorrow as university staff are forced to prioritise policy that focuses purely on the numbers game.

'We would advise against embracing any new form of league tables or target-driven approaches to measuring higher education. Experience has taught us that such an approach generally lowers quality, rather than raises it, and is a bureaucratic nightmare.

'The main reason why the first five 14-19 diplomas are running very close to the September implementation deadline is the confusion created in the sector skills councils business-led Diploma Development Partnerships over curriculum organisation and content. Put simply, business leaders are not educationalists.'