Lifting the cap on student numbers: five lessons learned from Australia

By Claire Shaw. A new report urges England to seek guidance from Australia if its policy on uncapping student numbers is to be a success.
In 2015, universities in England will be able to recruit as many students as they like. But a new report looking at what happened in Australia when that policy was rolled out in 2012 warns that it’s naive to think uncapping student places will be a simple process in the UK – especially if the sector suffers further cuts after the election next year. The report, published by the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi), draws a contrast between the decades taken to prepare the ground for a demand-driven system in Australia and the speed with which the decision was taken in England.
Read our series on UK vs Australia: who’s copying whom? Read more...