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ENGINEERING BULLETIN

Publisher: All-Russian public organization "Academy of Engineering Sciences named after A.M. Prokhorov".

Oxbridge academics 'alarmed' over funding plans

03.03.2011

Hundreds of Oxford and Cambridge academics have expressed alarm over higher education reforms in a letter to Universities Minister David Willetts.

They say universities are being asked to "fly blind" as they move to market-based fees without knowing the full details of the changes.

A White Paper setting out the changes, expected in March, has been delayed.

The government said its plans were fair and affordable, and more consultation was needed on the White Paper.

"We note with dismay and alarm that universities are being forced to take major decisions, with unknown consequences, at a breakneck speed," the academics say, writing in the Independent newspaper.

"We are being asked to 'fly blind' over matters of the utmost importance in respect of our ability to continue to deliver world-class education and research," they say.

Parliament voted in December to allow universities to raise fees from the current level of just over £3,000 a year to between £6,000 and £9,000.

Full text of the article on the BBC news website
Photo: BBC

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