Recruiting trainee teachers

04 April 2011

The fee levels were determined by the Board of Governors at its meeting on 28 March 2011 and will be subject to the approval of fair access and widening participation arrangements outlined in our proposed Access Agreement to the Office for Fair Access (OFAA) which the University will submit in April.

By charging fees of £9,000, the University will be able to invest in, and deliver, the high quality experience needed to provide our students with the basis for their future success. It will also allow us to continually review our programmes to ensure that the features that are key to students’ needs and interests are put in place and made clear to prospective students. It will enable LJMU to deliver a distinctive, life changing experience worth the financial commitment: a programme that leads to a career, either through employment or self-employment, and that offers tangible personal development.

Wider context
The rise in fees compensates for the loss of teaching grants from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Training & Development Agency (TDA) and for the reduction of HEFCE capital funding, as well as including an amount per student for widening access required by OFFA. The result of these policies is the increase in tuition fees that universities will have to charge just to maintain current standards of provision to meet world standards. In such a situation students will have high expectations of the service and experiences from which they will benefit in the future, in order to justify the investment of their time and their money. Higher Education will be very different in the future and will need to demonstrate, and deliver, huge improvements for students in terms of life time benefits in order to justify the personal commitment demanded of them. Students will be looking at universities in very different ways and will be seeking relevant quality opportunities to impact on their future life chances – value for money. To succeed in the new tougher environment, it is our task to rise to this challenge and build on our existing pioneering approach.

World of Work investment
This enhanced level of expectation fits well with the direction of the University and its existing strategic plan – preparing people for success in the knowledge economy and recognising the need for both graduate and high-level World of Work (WoW) skills in addition to a solid academic education. We will invest in WoW, making the Bronze level compulsory in all programmes in addition to building on other value-added elements including internships, staff support, personal learning tools, the general student experience including leisure and sports facilities and the ability of the Students’ Union to deliver good complementary services.

Widening Access investment
The University already has a strong record in widening access to Higher Education for under-represented groups and will continue this practice. LJMU’s longstanding and successful track record is evidenced by its performance against the Higher Education Funding Council of England (HEFCE) benchmarks which it consistently exceeds. The University’s success has always depended on an ability to attract a wide range of students and to respond to a variety of educational backgrounds and life experiences; widening access to Higher Education is firmly embedded within the culture of the University and is reflected in its mission. LJMU is determined to offer students the very best provision to launch them in their future lives.

Chairman of the Board of Governors statement
Sir Malcolm Thornton, Chairman of the Governors commented: "The Governors have been very clear on this decision. We are entering a totally different market in Higher Education, a market in which we are more than able to compete, thrive and succeed. Our fee policy reflects a confidence that we can provide the best possible development for our students. We have worked hard to ensure that the foundations are already in place to deliver an exciting new choice in Higher Education development and experience which we can now deliver: a very special student experience combining high quality academic development with high level World of Work skills."