Public First has today published the findings of its landmark study into public attitudes to tuition fees.

The report – supported by think tank Progressive Britain along with the University of York; University of Manchester; University of Warwick; and Greenwich University polled 8000 adults in England, followed up by eight focus groups across the country, with the aim of working out whether Labour was right to change its position on abolishing fees – and to work out what might come next.

You can read the report here or download as a PDF document here.

Polling tables and other data can be found here.

Professor Charlie Jeffery, Vice Chancellor and President at the University of York said: “This work demonstrates clearly that it will be challenging for any political party to increase the tuition fee amount for students. We hope therefore it can lead to a national conversation about how to fund our vital higher education system in a way that is sustainable in the long term and allows us to carry out our mission to serve our communities and provide world-leading education and research. In the short-term we also need politicians, policy-makers to be pragmatic about how to support and enable universities to extend existing and develop new and different ways to generate additional funding outside the English student loan system.”

Professor Jane Harrington, Vice-Chancellor and chief executive of the University of Greenwich said: “As the Vice-Chancellor of a university that takes pride in our commitment to social inclusion, I strongly believe that talent, not income, should determine an individual’s ability to pursue higher education. That is why, I am really pleased to see these compelling public polling results, making it clear that there is strong public support for the introduction of targeted maintenance grants for those who need them the most to enable them to concentrate on their studies and thrive. As a society, we should actively seek to break down barriers, so I hope that all political parties will take these results seriously.”

Ed Dorrell, Partner at Public First said: “This has been a fascinating project to have taken on – and we hope it has shed much needed light on what the public wants from universities – and how they are funded. As ever, the public are quite sensible. They see the value that universities can add both to individual young people and to society – and that students, especially from the poorest homes, should be supported to study.  But they also see that other avenues need to be funded properly, especially the creation of a much wider and more extensive apprenticeship offer. Labour would do well to act on this insight.”

Andy Westwood, Professor of Government Practice at the University of Manchester said: This is an excellent report – as you’d expect – not least because it takes us from our often complex, technical discussions about fees, loans and funding into wider public perceptions about the system and the sector. Perhaps the key takeaway is that we have to work harder and listen more to these voices as we seek to shape higher education policy in the coming years. 

Sam Roseveare, Director of Regional and National Policy at the University of Warwick said: “The research undertaken by Public First gives a very clear view of the public’s views on the funding of tertiary education and will usefully inform any serious debate on the future of the sector. The sector faces challenges in the short to medium term, but we must be pragmatic. With this report, Public First have given us a very clear idea of which proposals might be acceptable in the short term and where we need to work harder in the future”

Nick Barr, Professor of Public Economics at the LSE said: “The finding of strong support for policies to assist students from less well-off backgrounds is not surprising.  What is surprising – and impressive – is the wisdom of the crowd in recognising that the pledge to abolish tuition fees, though desirable to many, is not feasible, and hence that some form of cost sharing between students and taxpayers is part of the way forward.”

Nathan Yeowell, Executive Director of Progressive Britain said: “How we fund higher education is vital to the future success of our country and the success of our young people. It’s clear from the results that the public don’t want a revolution in funding structures, but they share with the Labour Party a desire for a more progressive system of fees, one which does more to give those from the poorest backgrounds the chance to get on.” 

For more information please contact Jess Lister: jessica.lister@publicfirst.co.uk