Any university that is allowed to charge higher tuition fees in the future could face financial penalties if it fails to deliver on promises to students, a vice-chancellor has warned.

Paul Wellings, chair of the 1994 Group of small research-intensive universities, told a public hearing of the review of higher education fees and funding yesterday that it would be fair to expect institutions to meet ¡°minimum¡± standards to students if fees were raised.

However, the vice-chancellor of Lancaster University stopped short of suggesting a national regulatory framework for scrutinising universities that charge higher fees, saying he would be ¡°wary¡± of such a move.

He told the hearing, chaired by Lord Browne of Madingley, that any reform of the current financing arrangements would have to be matched by increased student scrutiny.

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He said institutions needed to make clear to potential new recruits what they could expect from a university in terms of key factors such as staff-to-student ratios and contact time. ¡°The onus will be on institutions to be articulate about the nature of the experience for those students,¡± he told the panel at a hearing in Bristol. ¡°I think the onus will be on us to think about that relationship much more firmly than we have in the past.¡±

When pressed by the panel on the form such scrutiny should take, Professor Wellings said individual universities, and not a national body, should be responsible for the framework. ¡°I¡¯m very wary of a highly centralised, homogenised approach to regulating everything and having the same system in place across the sector,¡± he said.

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Speaking to reporters after giving evidence, Professor Wellings suggested that financial sanctions could be imposed on universities that fail to meet student expectations.

¡°If a university offers ¡®x¡¯ say, as a minimum standard, and then is always in breach of that, then the funding council¡­could begin by saying, ¡®Why are you not up to the pace given that you are making this commitment¡¯ and ultimately ask if the public resource is being used to best effect,¡± he said.

¡°What¡¯s in the jar should be what¡¯s on the label,¡± he added.

simon.baker@tsleducation.com

? For full coverage of this week¡¯s evidence sessions, see Times Higher Education on May.

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