7: ‘Higher Education Expansion as a Growth Strategy’

As well as lagging its peers economically, the UK is highly polarised in terms of inter-personal and regional equality (Bell et al., 2023). The expansion of higher education (HE) over the last 30 years has arguably contributed to this division, sparking criticism over its role in dividing society into graduates and non-graduates (Goodhart, 2020).

This attack ignores the critical role HE plays in providing the skills needed for the high-growth sectors of our economy. These are based on services and advanced manufacturing industries that are heavy recruiters of graduates, now and even more so in the future (Coulter et al., 2022b). Such critiques nevertheless point to the need to gear the next phase of HE expansion to delivering more extensive growth, achieving a better blending of academic and practical skills and knowledge, and putting the sector onto a more sustainable footing through changes to how degrees are delivered.