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The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) has launched a consultation this week on controls to student numbers from 2014/15.

Institutions which are funded by HEFCE are issued allocations for the number of students they can admit each year. Institutions who recruit in excess of their allocation are given strict fines and penalties and this control allows HEFCE to manage public expenditure on higher education whilst encouraging diversity and enabling student choice.

For 2013/14 HEFCE is now enabling universities to recruit above their allocation, although only within very clear guidelines. Students with high grades in certain qualifications (currently ABB at A-Level) will be exempt from the allocation total and institutions that recruit in excess of their allocation by a small margin will no longer be fined.

HEFCE’s consultation is asking institutions to consider how this flexibility can be further increased from 2014/15, in particular amongst those institutions with ‘strong recruitment patterns’ and responses are expected before 28^th June.