Case study

Higher Education Funding Council for England 

Reducing costs and building partnerships for better accountability in the higher education sector

The English higher education sector comprises over 130 independent and self-governing universities and colleges. They receive more than £7 billion of public funding each year under a complex range of arrangements and for varied policy purposes. The diversity of the sector and its funding arrangements present challenges for effective accountability - that is, ensuring that public money is being spent properly without generating bureaucratic burdens. Growing complaints from institutions about the administrative burdens imposed on them, coupled with perceptions among stakeholders of shortcomings in institutions’ management systems, suggested that neither objective was being met.

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) is responsible for the largest share of funding for higher education, and also has responsibilities for the general health and development of the sector. PA Consulting Group was appointed by HEFCE in January 2000 to review the operation and costs of accountability arrangements in higher education, and to identify opportunities for reducing burdens.