Higher Education Commission. Regulating Higher Education. Protecting students. Encouraging innovating. Enhancing excellence.2013. Pages: 76.

The Higher Education Commission released a report in which it calls for an improvement of higher education regulation and a new institutional set-up of public regulatory organisations in England. The report is based on eight months of research and interviews conducted with stakeholders in the higher education sector such as academics, government advisers, representatives of regulation bodies, business leaders and student bodies. On the basis of these interviews, the report makes 13 recommendations, focusing strongly on regulatory issues which are to be achieved through legislative measures. As such, the report suggests the creation of a new regulatory body (Council for Higher Education – CHE) built on the remit of the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and incorporating other regulatory institutions while maintaining others in contractual relationships. The report’s overall aim is to ensure the reputation of the UK’s higher education system as a brand in line with the liberalisation of the British university system since 1998. The Higher Education Commission is an advisory body administered by the British think tank Policy Connect and consists of stakeholders from the higher education sector, representatives of the business community and representatives of the UK’s three major political parties (Conservative Party, Labour Party and Liberal Democrats). The Higher Education Commission is not an official body and has no direct powers to influence policies but has political connections through its composition.

Higher Education Commission – Report