Universities will ¡°all end up in court¡± if teaching excellence framework scores are linked to tuition fee levels, a conference has heard.

Tom Ward, pro vice-chancellor (education) at Durham University, told a Westminster Higher Education Forum event that English institutions would be forced to launch legal challenges if a worse-than-expected TEF judgement barred them from increasing their fees by the maximum amount possible.

¡°Who here is going to cheerfully walk away from not getting whatever this year¡¯s version of ¡®gold¡¯ is? If it¡¯s linked to resource, we¡¯ll all end up in court,¡± Professor Ward said. ¡°These metrics had better be very robust because there are large sums of money at stake.¡±

Under the proposed TEF, higher education institutions would be invited to apply for different levels of award from 2018-19, judged against a range of metrics measuring teaching quality and student outcomes, among other things. Each TEF level is set to bring with it a different tuition fee cap.

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But Professor Ward argued that no metric could capture the ¡°richness¡± of the student experience and that having ¡°the person from the ministry¡± define what excellent teaching was could stifle innovation in teaching and learning.

¡°Assessment can kill the best teaching, and assessment can kill the best learning,¡± Professor Ward said. ¡°It¡¯s all fine until some panel somewhere says: ¡®I¡¯m afraid yours is a bronze, but yours is a silver, and there¡¯s money attached to the difference.¡¯ That¡¯s when it goes haywire.¡±

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Speaking at the same event, Douglas Blackstock, the interim chief executive of the Quality Assurance Agency, said that a ¡°high hurdle¡± must remain for gaining UK degree-awarding powers, despite the government¡¯s plans to make it more straightforward for new and alternative providers to enter the market.

¡°Misuse¡± of these powers could damage the sector¡¯s reputation and harm students too, Mr Blackstock warned.

¡°If you have a pop-up university that closes in four years, that degree certificate becomes worthless and affects that student¡¯s career,¡± Mr Blackstock said. ¡°A degree is for life, not just for Christmas.¡±

Mr Blackstock suggested that new entrants should be restricted to awarding qualifications at a lower level, or in certain subject areas, until they could demonstrate the required standards.

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chris.havergal@tesglobal.com