“Some of the UK’s most prestigious universities have had their funding cut as higher education’s traditional hierarchy took a hit at the hands of the 2008 research assessment exercise settlement. The Higher Education Funding Council for England announced allocations of almost £8 billion to English institutions for 2009-10, including £1.6 billion for research and £4.8 billion for teaching. David Eastwood, chief executive of Hefce, said the overall settlement was good. In cash terms it represented a 4 per cent increase on last year, which in real terms equated to a 2 per cent rise, with inflation standing at 2 per cent. He stressed that the unit of resource for teaching had been maintained, and funding for research had increased by 7.7 per cent …” (more)
[Rebecca Attwood, Zoë Corbyn, Times Higher Education, 5 March]