The demographic downturn will affect the supply of undergraduate school-leaving students, and the nature of institutions' relationships with their students will continue to evolve in line with the customer culture. The future of the National Student Survey (NSS) is relevant to this.
The pressure on undergraduate places and the changing fee regime may create opportunities for the further development of on line and distance learning. A stimulus to this type of initiative is given by the publication of Collaborate to Compete: Seizing the Opportunity of Online Learning for UK Higher Education. This results from the work of the Online task Force.
An independent higher education commission has launched an enquiry into postgraduate education. It will focus on 5 themes - economy, access, international, progression and reform.
As science continues to come up against new ethical boundaries the importance of scientific and research ethics is likely to challenge many institutions. Access to research and scientific data is also an issue likely to affect institutions. Some of the context is given in an EU paper. A working group has been set up to examine how UK-funded research findings can be made more accessible and the Government position has been set out by the Minister.
A draft concordat on research integrity has been developed and is available for comment.
The Information Commissioner has published further guidance to universities on freedom of information legislation in relation to the publication of research findings. The impetus for this has come from the House of Commons Science and Technology Report on the disclosure of data about climate change at the University of East Anglia.