30 January 2015 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
This week HEFCE received the BIS grant letter, confirming funding allocations for the English sector for the 2015-16 financial year. The £4.01billion promised is a slight reduction on 2014-15 but, combined with fee income, is expected to increase the total funding for the sector from £11.1bn to £12.1bn. HEFCE reports that the funding includes an “increase in capital funding of £163 million compared to 2014-15 (a £146 million increase in teaching capital and a £17 million rise in research capital)”. The council also highlights that “teaching funding priorities remain the same; HEFCE is asked to continue to protect, as far as possible, funding for high cost subjects, widening participation, and small and specialist institutions”.
The letter also reinforces HEFCE’s role as the sector’s lead regulator, by transferring further powers to the council. Among these are the “administration and processes for degree awarding powers, university and university college title, designation as institutions eligible to receive HEFCE funding, and transfers from the FE to the HE sector”. The WonkHE blog has a good round-up.
