El diario The Guardian informa sobre el nuevo ejercicio presupuestario para las universidades de Inglaterra. El presupuesto cubre el período académico 2008/2009 y comprende:
— Recursos para docencia (£000s) 4,530,028
— Recursos para investigación (£000s) 1,457,173
— Total gastos recurrentes (£000s) 5,989,710
más una suma de (£000s) 24.724 destinados a “Additional funding for very high cost and vulnerable science subjects”.
Este preupuesto beneficia a 131 universidades y 128 colleges y representa un aumento de 3.3% real respecto del anterior ejercicio presupuestario.
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Resumen ejecutivo del documento del Higher Education Funding Council de Inglaterra (HEFCE) sobre asignaciones para gastos recurrentes durante el período 2008/2009
Recurrent grants for 2008-09
This document summarises our provisional allocations of recurrent funding to institutions for the academic year 2008-09. Final allocations will be announced in July 2008.
Purpose
1. This document summarises our provisional allocations of recurrent funding to institutions for the academic year 2008-09.
Key points
2. The total HEFCE grant available for the 2008-09 academic year is £7,476 million. This represents an overall cash increase of 3.3 per cent compared with the equivalent figure for 2007 08. The total includes recurrent funding of £4,632 million for teaching (of which £364 million is for widening participation), £1,460 million for research, and £120 million for business and community engagement. In addition, we are providing a further £902 million for earmarked capital grants, £337 million for special funding, and £25 million for very high cost and vulnerable science subjects.
3. The institutional allocations for teaching and research announced in this publication show an average 3.5 per cent increase in recurrent grant for the sector. After adjusting funding for equivalent or lower qualifications (ELQs), we have provided a full uplift for inflation to the main teaching grant allocation for each institution. Many institutions have also gained significant additional funded student numbers. The total funding for widening participation is also being increased in line with inflation. None of the increases referred to in this document take account of the additional fee income in 2008-09 that is expected following the introduction of variable fees for full-time undergraduates.
4. There are increases in funding for research, in keeping with the Government’s commitment to enhance the research base through both sides of the dual-support system. We anticipate further increases in research funding in 2009-10.
5. We are allocating a total of £902 million for earmarked capital grants. This includes £164 million from the science budget for the Research Capital Investment Fund. Therefore the higher education budget for earmarked capital of £738 million is the same cash figure as for 2007-08. The distribution of this funding between institutions has been announced separately and is not included in this document (paragraph 63 provides further information).
Teaching
6. The total recurrent funding for teaching that is available has increased by 4.1 per cent over the equivalent final allocation to the sector for 2007-08. This has allowed us to provide for a significant number of additional full-time equivalent (FTE) student places, while providing an uplift for inflation to teaching grant after adjustments to reflect the phasing out of funding for ELQs. We have also provided an uplift for inflation for widening participation funding. We have made commitments for approximately 24,000 FTE additional funded places for 2008-09.
7. The total of £4,632 million for teaching includes the following:
£364 million to support widening participation for students from under-represented groups or who are at greatest risk of not completing their studies.
£91 million for additional funded places, mainly awarded following HEFCE Circular Letter 04/2007 ‘Allocation of additional student numbers in 2008-09’. This also includes £6 million for increases in medical and dental student numbers.
Research
8. A total of £1,460 million is allocated for research. This is an increase of 2.9 per cent compared with the equivalent funding for 2007-08. Within this overall increase we have:
Maintained in real terms the total for the following streams within quality related research (QR):
charity support fund
business research element
research degree programme (RDP) supervision fund.
Increased the average rate of grant on a like for-like basis for submissions rated 4, 5 and 5* in the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) by approximately 2.53, 2.75 and 3.53 per cent respectively. These increases take account of mainstream QR, London weighting on mainstream QR and funds for the ‘best 5-star’ departments.
Moderation of teaching and research
9. We have continued our policy of phasing in changes by moderating the allocations. In general, each institution’s recurrent resource for teaching and research will be at least maintained in cash terms compared with the equivalent, unmoderated figure for 2007-08, but we will not provide moderation where it amounts to less than £100,000.
Special funding and earmarked capital
10. We are allocating a total of £902 million for earmarked capital grants. This includes £164 million from the science budget for the Research Capital Investment Fund. Therefore the higher education budget for earmarked capital of £738 million is the same cash figure as for 2007-08. The total allocated as special funding has decreased by £112 million (25 per cent) since last year. This reduction has come about largely because funding under the Higher Education Innovation Fund is being incorporated into recurrent grant allocations, as described in paragraph 61. Special funding continues to represent a declining proportion of our overall budget.

Universities to get above inflation rise in funding
Anthea Lipsett
Thursday March 6, 2008
EducationGuardian.co.uk
Universities in England will get an above inflation rise – 3.3% – in funding for teaching, research and widening participation next year, the Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) announced today.
The settlement is higher than any allocated to other public sectors for next year.
Total funds of close to £7.6bn for the 131 universities and 128 colleges for 2008-09 include money for 24,000 extra full-time equivalent students and more money for teaching (including widening participation) and research.
Universities share £4.6bn for teaching – of which £364m is for widening participation – £1.5bn for research, and £120m for business and “community engagement” (such as working with business) through the Higher Education Innovation Fund (HEIF).
In particular, the research funding includes £62m for business-related research, £185m for charity-funded research and £199m for postgraduate research.
The announcement also includes £337m for special funding used to back up specific government policy, for example, establishing centres of excellence in teaching and learning. The amount represents a 25% drop on this year because HEIF allocates money using a set formula, rather than by bids.
Continued additional funding of £25m is earmarked for very high-cost and vulnerable science subjects – physics, chemistry, chemical engineering, and mineral metallurgy and materials engineering.
Some £902m will be allocated separately as earmarked capital grants to support teaching and research.
Although the Russell group of large research-intensive universities have lost out on money for widening participation, they have done well overall. The “golden diamond” universities of Cambridge, Oxford, Manchester and University College London are among the top five for overall funding levels.
The chief executive of the funding council, Prof David Eastwood, said it was a “very good” settlement. It will provide substantial growth in student numbers and offer greater opportunities to students from a wider variety of backgrounds, such as those working and in areas with little higher education provision.
He said: “The funding will also enable us to continue to sustain and develop a dynamic and internationally competitive sector by supporting high quality research.
“It will enable the growing links between higher education and businesses to flourish, encouraging economic regeneration and prosperity through innovation and applied research.
“It will also foster the wider social roles of universities through public and community engagement.”
The universities secretary, John Denham, said government investment in HE had reached record levels.
“By 2011, funding for higher education will have increased by over 30% in real terms since 1997,” he said. “This increased investment will ensure that universities and colleges have the resources they need to continue widening participation and reaching out to new talent by working more closely with schools and employers.”
Vice-chancellors welcomed the stable level of funding and additional student numbers but warned that income from variable fees must stay in addition to core funding.
Diana Warwick, chief executive of Universities UK, said: “We are only in the second year of the new variable fees system in England so it is vital that the income from fees remains truly additional to stable public funding for teaching.
“We will also want to monitor how this settlement impacts upon those institutions hardest hit by the government’s decision to cut funding for students aiming for equivalent or lower qualifications [ELQs].
“If the new target of 40% of the adult population having a higher education qualification is to be met, there must be even greater focus and support for part-time, mature and work-based learners. This is particularly important in the context of the UK’s changing demography.”
Prof David Latchman, master of Birkbeck College, which was one of the institutions hardest hit by the cuts to ELQ funding, told EducationGuardian.co.uk: “This is the year with the least impact but we’re trying to dissect how much we would have got without the ELQ cuts. Widening participation funding is based on Hefce-funded student numbers so we have lost out there too.
“The way out of this is to recruit more widening participation students rather than to retain them, which is perverse.”