15 March 2018 
Martin Higgs, Communications Officer
The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) have published their report Demand for Higher Education to 2030, and its headlines are worth fixing in the mind for today and perhaps the next ten years too. With the obvious issue of student recruitment from EU countries remaining uncertain until the Brexit process resolves itself, HEPI have brought together the demographics and the political, attempting to explain a predicted rise in student numbers of up to half a million in the next 12 years.
They juggle factors including:
Their conclusion? A net increase in demand for full-time student places of 300,000.
The report raises issues for universities and government. As the President of HEPI, Bahram Bekhradnia, says: “Given the fact that each new student recruited (with few exceptions) represents increased demand for government-subsidised student loans, it is difficult to see – under the current finance model – how the policy of uncapped student recruitment can continue. This is particularly pertinent given the constraints on public expenditure and the absence of any suggestion from the Treasury that more money will be available for higher education in the future.”
