A report analysing the pros and cons of introducing vouchers to fund higher education has been welcomed as a useful contribution to the debate on HE funding by the higher education representative body GuildHE.

The Higher Education Policy Institute report, ‘Vouchers as a mechanism for funding higher education’, published today, concludes that the problems that vouchers would bring outweigh the claimed benefits and it is therefore highly unlikely as well as undesirable that a voucher system will be introduced.

Responding to the report, GuildHE Chief Executive Alice Hynes said: “The idea of providing students with vouchers to purchase their higher education rather than paying grants direct to institutions has been around for some time, and is bound to re-surface as part of the current debate on the future of HE funding. HEPI’s analysis and report is therefore timely and provides a very helpful contribution to that debate.

“HEPI’s conclusions on the potential impact of vouchers on widening participation, the distribution of funding in the sector, and the Government’s ability to influence provision and make it more responsive to national needs, are particularly interesting and will no doubt stimulate further discussion.”

For more information, please contact:

Alice Hynes

GuildHE Chief Executive

Tel: 0207 387 7711

Email: alice.hynes@guildhe.ac.uk