tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12080762838304327802024-03-07T03:34:21.671+00:00HE Planning BlogAndrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.comBlogger170125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-35813303798785105852013-10-14T08:00:00.000+01:002013-10-14T08:00:02.622+01:00The new regulatory framework<div class="MsoNormal">
It’s been quiet on
this blog lately, as I haven’t managed to put together the time to start and
finish a whole blog post. The new regulatory framework may not seem quite as
newsworthy as it did when I started this post, but to be honest it was never
very exciting anyway – the focus of this blog is on regulation and funding in
English HE, so we only ever aspired to the lowest values of ‘newsworthy’.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The new regulatory
framework for English Higher Education, to be honest, looks a bit of a mare’s
nest. Here it is set out on one side of A4 courtesy of HEFCE’s recent
<a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/about/intro/wip/rpg/of/">publication </a>on the subject. <o:p></o:p></div>
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Some aspects of
this diagram are just weird (for instance the OIA apparently doesn’t have a
relationship with HE providers, although the HE provider I work for is in
weekly correspondence with the OIA, and pays a subscription fee to it as well),
others are carried over from pre-existing muddle (the mix of golden rectangles
that are UK-wide, and plain ones which are England only), others are rather
disappointing (the location of the PSRBs, the NHS and Ofsted to name but
three). After some obligatory throat-clearing, I’ll come back to these second
two points below.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So first the
throat-clearing. In calling this the ‘new’ regulatory framework I might be
taken to imply that there was an ‘old’ regulatory framework, but in truth there
wasn’t. Like any self-respecting <i>ancien
regime</i>, the pre-reform system for regulating HE in England had grown up
over many years by a series of historical processes (of which compromise was
the most important). It was never a consistent or coherent ‘framework’. So the
new framework didn’t start from the best place possible. Secondly you have to
consider the tools that BIS and HEFCE had to hand to build this thing: with no
new legislation that means essentially the existing legislation and the
goodwill of other agencies. Thirdly, it is important to remember that the new
framework has been constructed with one primary end in mind – to control the
risk of over-recruitment on SLC-funded programmes. This it will do perfectly
well.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Let’s start with
the disappointments. Unlike <a href="http://registrarism.wordpress.com/2013/07/15/regulation-without-legislation/">Paul Greatrix</a>, I don’t think I am actually surprised to
see the focus of the framework is on extending regulation over alternative
providers rather than rationalising or reducing regulation of the old HEIs.
Nonetheless it is a disappointment to see that key funding and regulatory
bodies remain outside the framework – not just the Home Office, or the NHS
(that box labelled ‘HEE/LETBs’ for the uninitiated), but even bodies within the
BIS ambit such as Research Councils. This isn’t surprising because the
Government has given the Home Office, NHS and Ofsted quite big fish of their
own to fry. The fund of goodwill that HEFCE may have had to hand in the NHS
won’t buy much at a time when the Government’s own fundamental changes to NHS
organisation have consumed so much attention. No-one has ever been able to
think up a good way to restrain the PSRBs (Professional, Statutory and
Regulatory Bodies) without new legislation. Indeed keeping track of them is
hard enough: the <a href="http://www.hesa.ac.uk/component/option,com_studrec/task,show_file/Itemid,233/mnl,13061/href,accreditation_list.html/">HEFCE-approved list</a> doesn’t even include all the PSRBs that
accredit provision at my institution, let alone across the whole sector.<o:p></o:p></div>
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For the existing
HEIs, then, the new framework looks a lot like the old framework – we continue
to be accountable in a great many directions to a great many different bodies,
some of which (HESA, HEFCE and QAA, for instance) are reasonably good at
co-ordinating their action whilst others (the NHS, Ofsted, the UKBA (as was)
march to their own drum. This is a disappointment, but it isn’t a surprise.<o:p></o:p></div>
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That’s enough about
disappointment, what about muddle? I’ve already cleared my throat once but, for
the avoidance of doubt, let me say that muddle was a feature of the pre-reform
regulation of English HE too. But from a student perspective, rather
substantial muddle still remains.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The new framework
is genuinely new for the alternative providers – the group who are neither HEIs
nor FE Colleges. However the framework is not <i>completely</i> new for them either. Numerically, the largest group of
alternative providers are the providers who have their provision validated by
an existing institution. Within the sector, we normally call them
‘collaborative partners’, but BIS has traditionally called them ‘listed
bodies’. The list of listed bodies is <a href="https://www.gov.uk/recognised-uk-degrees-listed-bodies">here</a>. It isn’t necessarily a very useful list,
as it is only updated every two years or so, whilst institutions agree new
validations (and end old ones) all the time. For listed bodies which are just
listed bodies – those with postgraduate or part-time portfolios, for instance,
there seems to be no change planned. They will continue to be validated by
their partner HEIs and (in principle) regulated by those same partner HEIs. On
the basis of this regulation-at-one-remove, HEFCE choose to regard them as
falling within the new framework.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Other alternative
providers may either be validated in this way, or have their own degree
awarding powers. A couple have the university title. Where the new framework
really affects them is in their access to designation for SLC funds. This is
the process by which they secure access for their students to student loans,
and it is changing in a fairly major way. But to understand all the details you
need to look both at the new HEFCE document, and the recent BIS guidance on
application of student number controls to alternative providers. That, I think,
is material for another post.<o:p></o:p></div>
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So there is only
one really major change to the way the sector is being regulated. The rest of
the framework consists of an attempt to map the regulation that has always
existed (or rather, as I explained above, to map a part of it). When you see
how complex this map can be, I think you will be even less surprised that so
much regulation has been left outside the framework.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Here’s<a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/about/intro/wip/rpg/of/"> Figure 3</a>
from the Framework. This is an example of how HEFCE think
their Register of HE providers will look. There are ten different regulatory
requirements outlined here (each of which can either apply or not apply). Maths
was never my strongest subject, but I think that makes 1,024 different
potential regulatory regimes that can apply to English HE providers. The risk
flag is red only in extraordinary circumstances but it can be green, amber or
an ordinary flavour of red, none of which HEFCE intends to publish. The risk
flag will actually make a much bigger difference to how HEFCE treats you than
the distinction between taught DAPs and Foundation DAPs, so all in all well
over 4,000 different regulatory regimes can be captured in this little table.
However this is an incomplete example, because HEFCE also tell us that certain
optional elements of the regulatory framework will also be captured (for
instance some alternative providers may choose to opt into membership of the
OIA, and others may choose to opt out). So in truth there are literally tens of
thousands of different combinations of regulatory requirements that could apply
to different providers.<o:p></o:p></div>
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This table being
just an example for illustration, the ‘click here to see regulatory
requirements for each type of designation’ button naturally doesn’t work yet.
For the listed bodies (those with an ‘X’ in ‘courses validated by recognised
body’) making that work is going to be more than just a technical challenge,
because the regulatory requirements in question are imposed by the universities
who validate the provision. HEFCE and QAA can make only the most generic
statements about the kinds of conditions and requirements there are likely to
be unless they collect these data from the institutions themselves. <o:p></o:p></div>
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HEFCE’s idea is
that the Register will not only show which regulations each provider is subject
to, but also clearly identify any with which they are not currently in
compliance. Again, for the listed bodies, only the validating institutions know
whether that body is in compliance or not. To state the obvious, keeping this
list current is going to be a very large and complex burden for HEFCE. I would not be at all surprised if elements of this concept were to
change quite significantly between now and 2014, when the Register is due to be
published.<o:p></o:p></div>
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But that’s mostly
an institutional perspective on how the new framework can be made to function.
There’s a separate, student perspective on what the new framework will achieve
even if we can make it function. Let me give some examples.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Suppose that I wish
to train as a teacher, and decide that a <a href="http://www.education.gov.uk/get-into-teaching/teacher-training-options/school-based-training/school-centred-training">school-based ITT</a> route is right for me. Some SCITTs award the PGCE, and others do
not. If there is no PGCE awarded, then the matter is straightforward and I am
not covered by the regulatory framework at all. If the PGCE is awarded, then it
will have been validated by some university or other, and therefore my activity
is covered by the regulatory framework. But what cover do I have? The
university will be monitored carefully for financial soundness and risk by
HEFCE, but the SCITT provider I am actually training with will not. The
university will be a member of the OIA, but I may well find that its complaints
procedures explicitly exclude collaborative students like me, and therefore
that I personally have no recourse to the OIA. There is no way for me to know
this without reading the university’s complaints procedure itself. The SCITT
itself may be a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/recognised-uk-degrees-listed-bodies">listed body</a> but in practice this gives me no
particular protection: neither BIS nor HEFCE directly monitors the listed
bodies.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Or suppose that I
decide to study at an overseas institution’s London campus. Here things seem
more straightforward, as HEFCE is clear that organisations with foreign degree
awarding powers which operate in England are not covered by the Framework.
Except for <a href="http://www.richmond.ac.uk/content/admissions/about-richmond.aspx">Richmond</a> which is both validated by the Open
University and accredited by the US Commission on Higher Education of
the Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools, and therefore appears as
a Listed Body. Of course if you looked you would see registration with the Charities
Commission and accreditation by the British Accreditation Council (BAC) proudly
listed on the website. Would you be concerned if Richmond’s future listing in
the HEFCE Register doesn’t confirm either of those? Would it make you
suspicious that Richmond is not being quite straight with you, or perhaps that
BAC and the ‘Charities Commission’ are not <i>bona fide</i> organisations? Of course
you would be wrong to have such suspicions, because neither BAC nor the Charities
Commission fall within the regulatory framework.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Or a third example.
Suppose I am contemplating applying to do a degree with an alternative provider
that has Degree Awarding Powers. Those powers are due to expire before I expect
to graduate. Will the Framework make that plain to me? If it does, won’t the
provider feel (quite understandably) that this is scaremongering rather than
regulation, and piling insult on top of the existing injury of time-limited
DAPs.<o:p></o:p></div>
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We have left the metaphor of the 'level playing field' a long way behind now. Perhaps instead we will have to come to think of a regulatory multiverse, in which thousands of parallel universes of regulation exist through which staff and students wander like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elric">doomed Byronic heroes</a>. Some of these planes of existence are quite stable, pleasant places. Others are changing more rapidly. This begs the question, of course, whether HEFCE are the Lords of Law or the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_and_Chaos">Cosmic Balance</a>.<o:p></o:p></div>
Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-23758767967277674642013-01-31T12:30:00.000+00:002013-02-01T08:38:59.447+00:00Yet another post about UCAS data<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">UCAS have now published their data for applications to the <a href="http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2013/jan13applicantfigures">15 January deadline</a></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">. By this stage, almost all school-leavers who are going to apply have applied, and a significant proportion of the Overseas and older applicants have also applied. Because the data are taken with reference to an actual deadline this dataset, unlike the <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/ucas-data-2013-cycle.html">earlier UCAS data releases</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">, provides a reasonably firm basis for taking stock of this years’ recruitment position.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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In previous years we got institutional-level data at this time. This year we aren’t. UCAS’ explanation why not makes quite striking reading:<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This change has been made following an assessment that publishing the application digest within a cycle could potentially change institutional or applicant behaviour …. In particular, our analysis showed that many institutions may have substantial shares of their applications in common with other individual institutions, increasing the potential for the applications digest to influence behaviour.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Yes, that’s right. They have stopped publishing the data because they could potentially be <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">used</i> by somebody and – even more shocking – because some applicants have applied to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">more than one</i> institution.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It is natural to look at this year’s numbers primarily in relation to the new fees regime, but there are two specific headwinds that need to be borne in mind. For many years, HE institutions have been looking forward to a demographic dip in <a href="http://www.hepi.ac.uk/466-1907/Higher-Education-Supply-and-Demand-to-2020.html">school-leavers</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">. That dip is now well under way, and UCAS estimate that it has accounted for 20,000 ‘lost’ 18-year old applicants compared to the peak in the 2009 cycle (or 4,000 since 2012).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">Secondly there is the economic context. Whilst the poor state of the British economy continues to make headlines, the picture for <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21158815">employment</a>, especially amongst older people is quite different and much more positive. In this context, UCAS’ figure 10 is a very interesting one.</span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Whilst the trend across all the age groups is slightly positive, you can see a big uptick in the older age groups especially in the 2010 and 2011 cycles. Now that the 2013 data are in, this looks increasingly like an effect of the economic downturn (when people can’t find jobs, full-time study seems more attractive as an option) which is now wearing off. Whilst the rates amongst older applicants are much lower than amongst 18-year olds, there are obviously a lot more people aged 19-60 than there are aged 18, so this temporary effect has counteracted the falling 18-year old numbers since 2009, but is no longer doing so to anything like the same extent. Since 2010 we have lost about 12,750 applicants aged 21 or more to this effect (probably more by the end of the cycle: whilst almost all 18-year olds will have applied by now, we would expect significant numbers of additional applications after the January deadline from these older applicants).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">So these two effects account for essentially all the difference between the peak of demand in the 2011 cycle, and now. Just as when the fee regime was last changed, it seems that demand has bounced right back to the trend after a single year of disruption: the difference is that last time demand came back to a rising trend. This is a pretty remarkable finding if it’s true because English higher education is now <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/comparing-english-and-american-he.html">incredibly expensive by international standards</a>. But it might be true. UCAS’ analysis of the <a href="http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2012/2012endofcycle">2012 cycle</a> also suggests fees made essentially no difference to applicants’ decision-making.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">I’ve commented on re-application rates before. Because of the many applicants unplaced last year, and the shift from AAB+ to ABB+, we might have expected to see an increased reapplication rate, especially amongst school-leavers holding ABB. This turns out clearly not to have been the case:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">The reapplication rate in 2013 for those unplaced in 2012 holding ‘AAA’ is 87 per cent, for ‘AAB’ 74 per cent, for ‘ABB’ and ‘BBB’ 71 per cent. These reapplication rates are similar to those in the 2012 cycle. There is no substantial divergence in the reapplication rates between 2012 and 2013 across unplaced applicants who were in different groups under the 2012-13 student number control arrangements for most courses at English institutions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 115%;">Source: <a href="http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2013/2013janapprates">UCAS</a></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Perhaps it isn’t surprising that applicants haven’t yet understood and seized all the opportunities for regulatory arbitrage that exist in the current system. Neither have the institutions, yet.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">A version of this post is now up at <a href="http://www.wonkhe.com/2013/02/01/latest-ucas-data-points-towards-interesting-trends/">WonkHE</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span>Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-66969181166909697222013-01-16T08:00:00.000+00:002013-01-16T08:00:13.305+00:00Marks out of Ten<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">A good habit I have picked up from Brad DeLong is to go back over one’s work from time to time and identify the things one has gotten wrong. He calls this ‘<a href="http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2010/08/mark-my-beliefs-to-market-time.html">marking my beliefs to market</a>’. Reading through the last year’s blog posts I can see a number of pieces about the UCAS recruitment cycle. I’ve already published my self-defence on that one <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/clearing-2012-how-wrong-was-i-and-why.html">here</a>, and I continue to think that the 2012 recruitment cycle was a lot less than catastrophic.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">On the other hand I posted a number of pieces on the degree awarding powers of the University (ex-College) of Law confidently predicting that they would not be transferred with the sale of the College’s teaching business, but I proved to be completely wrong about that. The Government decided that the degree awarding powers did not pertain to the Chartered corporation once called ‘the College of Law’, but pertained to the actual teaching business which the College used to run. Therefore a change of control of this business automatically meant a change in control of the degree awarding powers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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The reason I failed to foresee this is simple enough: the College of Law was a single legal entity, and it simply never occurred to me that the degree awarding powers might actually be an attribute of something that wasn’t a legal entity in its own right. When the Chartered corporation <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=421963&c=1">created a company</a> to control the teaching business, I assumed that the degree awarding powers could not be transferred to this new entity, and I was not wrong about that: the powers were not ‘transferred’ because they can’t be. Rather the Government recognised that the new company contained all and everything to which the original degree awarding powers had been granted – that is the teaching business.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">To get a bit more technical, the distinction rests on some words in the 92 Act (under which the College of Law’s DAPs were granted) which distinguish Higher Education Corporations (HECs) from the institutions which they ‘conduct.’ (see comments <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=421963&c=1">here</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">). Although the College was not a HEC, this language is taken to mean that the degree awarding powers were awarded not to a legal entity, but to an ‘institution’ which may be distinct from the legal entity responsible for it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">From one perspective, the implications of this error of mine are startling. The College of Law precedent already shows that the degree awarding powers don’t rest with the formal governance structure, and it can’t possibly be the case that they remain in the buildings that the college operates from, so they must belong to the staff themselves. Consider the case of an institution whose staff fall out with the governing body - for the sake of plausibility let’s make this institution a small one. It seems that if the staff go off in a body to set up their own new provider, it is this provider which will have the degree awarding powers, not their ex-employer, since this is the organisation which continues to operate the ‘institution’. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">From another perspective, the precedent that the University of Law sets turns out to be rather limited. As a chartered corporation with degree awarding powers, the College of Law looked a lot like the old Universities but it is very different in one critical respect – its degree awarding powers were granted under the 1992 Act and not as part of its charter. Thus the precedent of the College of Law cannot apply to the chartered pre-92 Universities.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The post-92 universities can use this precedent, but they will face problems which the College of Law did not. As statutory corporations, the HECs which ‘conduct’ the post-92 institutions are only permitted to do those things which they are explicitly permitted to do by law (whereas the chartered institutions, like most of us, can do anything which isn’t explicitly forbidden). Moreover they can only use the powers they have <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_review_in_English_law#The_powers_used_for_the_purpose_different_from_the_one_envisaged_by_the_law_under_which_they_were_granted">for the purposes for which those powers were originally granted</a>. </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">The HECs were created by the <a href="http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/40/section/124">Education Reform Act 1988</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">for the explicit purpose of conducting educational institutions. A HEC, then, cannot decide it no longer wishes to run a university, and recast itself as a different kind of educational charity, without the risk of legal challenge. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Of course a HEC can be dissolved by the Secretary of State, but this has been the case for ages.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US;">So whilst I was wrong, and I misled the people (fortunately not very many of them) who read my blogs about this, I think the overall impact is small. Implausible fantasies about universities declaring UDI from their governors aside, this precedent may be useful when other alternative providers change their corporate form, as they will also have been given their degree awarding powers under the 92 Act without being HECs and a few of them are charities. As long as these powers remain time-limited (unlike the permanent degree-awarding powers of the existing universities), I struggle to see this making that much difference to anything. A supportive Government could always have found a way to award degree awarding powers: an unsupportive future Government will always be able to take the powers away.</span>Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-67145748798446071072013-01-07T08:00:00.000+00:002013-01-08T11:04:14.124+00:00UCAS Data: 2013 Cycle<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">UCAS have now published their mid-December <a href="http://www.ucas.com/documents/stats/2013_applicantfigures_dec.pdf">data</a> on the 2013 cycle, and the press coverage has been <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2013/jan/03/university-applications-down-6percent">mainly</a> <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-20898941">downbeat</a>, </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">perhaps because UCAS has not tried the faintly ludicrous ‘<a href="http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2012/20120104">late surge</a>’ spin that they put on the equivalent data last year. </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We need to place caveats on these data. The UCAS deadline is <a href="http://ucas.faq-help.com/?question=What are the UCAS deadlines for applying?">15 January</a> for almost all courses. There is no particular benefit in applying long before that deadline and the typical year would see more applications received in January than in any preceding month.</span></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdip9_pguApfGb0fn6geBC2WUtJ3AoYCtTrWzUP3Tqt4Lq4_KMEMHy_vTz4CUdxhg0vMTv8nZfEjmOPhG0zfz9vvCZWMPrSllMPUnaes7vC3_a9K55qr4i-hCqLwUlxzumq3Y_JD5DQ_E/s1600/fig1.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" eea="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdip9_pguApfGb0fn6geBC2WUtJ3AoYCtTrWzUP3Tqt4Lq4_KMEMHy_vTz4CUdxhg0vMTv8nZfEjmOPhG0zfz9vvCZWMPrSllMPUnaes7vC3_a9K55qr4i-hCqLwUlxzumq3Y_JD5DQ_E/s1600/fig1.gif" /></a></div>
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Source: <a href="http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2012/20120130">UCAS</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It follows from this that you can see quite large swings in the data between December and January, and these don’t necessarily signify anything very much. In this context the 5.6% year-on-year fall in total applicants as at 17 December is not, to my mind, very big news. Certainly the year-on-year drop in applications my institution had in mid-December has been reversed over Christmas. We are now running ahead year-on-year but I don’t get excited: we may be behind again by the time January 15<sup>th</sup> comes.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">The other reason that we shouldn’t draw hasty conclusions from these data is that raw shortages of applicants were never the issue in the 2012 cycle. The UCAS end-of-cycle <a href="http://www.ucas.com/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2012/2012endofcycle">report</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">showed that there were 653,600 applicants and 464,900 acceptances. Whilst a few of those 190,000-odd unplaced applicants may have been unable to meet the entrance criteria of any institution anywhere, most of them could have secured places if they wished to. There have always been significant numbers of applicants who choose not to engage with Clearing, or withdraw from the process at some stage, but in 2012 this behaviour was particularly pronounced.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It’s interesting, therefore, that re-appliers are actually down year-on-year even more than first-time applicants:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Total applicants for all courses (2009-2013) by domicile of applicant and by first time applicant (FTA) or re-applier (RA).</span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-collapse: collapse; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-insideh: .5pt solid windowtext; mso-border-insidev: .5pt solid windowtext; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;"><tbody>
<tr style="height: 5.5pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: windowtext 1pt solid; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 10.46%;" valign="top" width="10%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<br /></div>
</td><td colspan="2" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: windowtext 1pt solid; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 18.28%;" valign="top" width="18%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">2009<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td colspan="2" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: windowtext 1pt solid; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 17.82%;" valign="top" width="17%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">2010<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td colspan="2" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: windowtext 1pt solid; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 17.82%;" valign="top" width="17%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">2011<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td colspan="2" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: windowtext 1pt solid; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 17.82%;" valign="top" width="17%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">2012<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td colspan="2" style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: windowtext 1pt solid; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 17.82%;" valign="top" width="17%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">2013<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<tr style="height: 5.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 10.46%;" valign="top" width="10%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Applicant Domicile <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.94%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">FTA<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">RA<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">FTA<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">RA<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">FTA<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">RA<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">FTA<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">RA<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">FTA<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: center;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">RA<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 5.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 10.46%;" valign="top" width="10%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">England <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.94%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">213,298 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">13,953 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">240,519 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">19,048 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">241,272 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">26,845 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">223,478 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">22,404 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">209,958 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">19,974 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 5.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 10.46%;" valign="top" width="10%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Northern Ireland <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.94%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">10,360 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">336 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">10,687 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">471 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">10,292 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">826 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">9,754 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">726 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">9,780 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">748 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 5.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 10.46%;" valign="top" width="10%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Scotland <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.94%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">15,680 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">769 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">16,466 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">911 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">13,331 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1,398 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">13,199 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1,418 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">12,769 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1,283 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 5.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 10.46%;" valign="top" width="10%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Wales <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.94%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">11,355 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">545 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">12,020 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">706 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">11,868 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1,076 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">11,531 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1,170 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">10,294 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">924 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 5.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 10.46%;" valign="top" width="10%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">EU <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.94%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">11,627 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">754 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">14,018 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">944 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">14,936 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1,207 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">13,406 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1,016 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">13,165 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">979 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 5.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 10.46%;" valign="top" width="10%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Non EU <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.94%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">17,581 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">938 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">18,888 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1,117 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">19,810 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1,203 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">22,377 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1,429 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">22,477 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">1,510 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr style="height: 5.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;"><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: windowtext 1pt solid; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 10.46%;" valign="top" width="10%"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Total <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.94%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">279,901 <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">17,295 <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">312,598 <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">23,197 <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">311,509 <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">32,555 <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">293,745 <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">28,163 <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 9.46%;" valign="top" width="9%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">278,443 <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td><td style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: windowtext 1pt solid; border-left: #f0f0f0; border-right: windowtext 1pt solid; border-top: #f0f0f0; height: 5.5pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding-bottom: 0cm; padding-left: 5.4pt; padding-right: 5.4pt; padding-top: 0cm; width: 8.36%;" valign="top" width="8%"><div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 10pt; text-align: right;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: 8pt; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">25,418 <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Source: <a href="http://www.ucas.com/documents/stats/2013_applicantfigures_dec.pdf"><strike>HESA</strike></a>UCAS* </span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Given the very strong rising trend in re-applications before 2012, the clear reasons why many applicants (anyone with ABB at A-level for a start) might have chosen to re-apply in 2013 rather than engage with Clearing 2012, and the relatively poor engagement actually seen in Clearing 2012, we might have hoped for a bounce in re-applications in 2013. The data show nothing of the kind. This factor alone accounts for over a third of the overall shortfall in 2013 applicants, year-on-year.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Another reason to expect a bounce in the current year is the impact of deferred entry. As you may remember, about <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/clearing-2012-how-wrong-was-i-and-why.html">14,000 fewer</a> applicants deferred their entry into the 2012 year than did so the year before. Put another way, about 9,000 more students deferred entry out of 2012 than into it</span><span style="font-family: Arial;">. What we can’t yet know, of course, is how many applicants are going to defer their entry this current cycle.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">It is pushing these early data too far to say that we have positive evidence of further falls in demand, but whilst we had good reason to expect a bounce, we have not yet seen evidence of one. We should know more soon.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">* Update: this post updated on 8/1/13 to correct a misattribution of some UCAS data to HESA. </span><br />
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Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-56119624482097289072012-12-21T15:43:00.006+00:002012-12-21T15:43:55.506+00:00Applying Student Number Controls to Alternative Providers with Designated Courses<br />
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<a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AMayan_Zodiac_Circle.jpg" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" title="By theilr (originally posted to Flickr as Mayan Zodiac Circle) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons"><img alt="Mayan Zodiac Circle" src="//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/59/Mayan_Zodiac_Circle.jpg/128px-Mayan_Zodiac_Circle.jpg" style="cursor: move;" unselectable="on" /></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Today is supposed to be the last day in human history. I felt it would be a fitting epitaph to spend a few of my last hours on the earth writing a thousand words on the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/applying-student-number-controls-to-alternative-providers-with-designated-courses">BIS consultation on alternative providers and the SNC</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;">: an exercise in existentialist policy analysis, if you like.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">If the world can last that long, the deadline for responses to the BIS consultation is 23 January 2013, so there will still be a little while to reflect on this when we get back from the Christmas break.<o:p></o:p></span></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">
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The consultation sets out a brief technical description – scarcely more than an outline – of two methods by which a student number control broadly comparable to the current HEFCE SNC might be implemented for alternative (i.e. private) providers. There is also a brief description of some new, institutional-level criteria and processes that will be conditions of designation. Currently alternative providers have individual courses designated for student support by the Secretary of State. Whilst there is no control whatsoever on recruitment to those courses, students on any other course the same institution might offer are not eligible to receive loans or grants from the Student Loan Company. Thus regulation of these numbers is simultaneously much stricter than in public HEIs (because of individual course designation) and much looser (because of no numbers control).<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">There’s no doubt as to what the two key paragraphs in this consultation are. For the alternative providers themselves, the key paragraph is 2.2.15:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Given that that we [<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sic</i>] not yet made policy decisions on future student number controls for 2014/15 and beyond for HEFCE-funded providers, it would be premature to commit to exactly how the student number control system will operate for alternative providers in 2014/15 and beyond at this stage. However we are committed to implementing a dynamic system which responds to student choice and allows for a diverse HE sector. We will announce decisions for future years at appropriate points, taking into account the responses to this consultation and evidence on the operation of the new system when available.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Now the 2014/15 cycle starts in nine months’ time so if you are an alternative provider this paragraph tells you that the Government cannot currently even indicate a timetable by which they will decide whether to let your business grow (or force it to shrink) nine months from now. This isn’t the kind of regulatory environment that will persuade many to invest in the UK market. Indeed even for 2013/14, I can’t see any clear statement of how BIS expect to calculate (or rather have HEFCE calculate) what they call a ‘suitable entrant control limit’ for each provider, so it is unclear to me whether this will be on the broadly the same basis as the public providers (which would sharply limit growth in 13/14 – a cycle which is already under way) or on some other basis. Nor is the timetable for this process clear. BIS say they will start to review existing designated providers in April 2013, but give no indication when they expect this process to finish.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This strikes me as a significantly less satisfactory position than the public providers are in. Whilst we public HEIs do not yet know our 13/14 Student Number Control limits, we have a clear understanding of the population to which the limit applies, the general policy informing the limit and the timetable to which the actual numbers will be announced. We can therefore plan pretty well. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">For the public providers, the key paragraph is 2.1.4<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">We are committed, as far as possible within the current legal framework, to reducing the anomalies in the way different types of institution are treated.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">So the ‘level playing field’ (if fields can die) is dead. BIS will delegate certain aspects of the designation process (the process which enables students at alternative providers to get access to SLC loans) to HEFCE, but otherwise there will continue to be quite separate regulatory regimes for the original providers and the alternatives. For instance the individual course-by-course designation in alternative providers will remain, with institutional criteria and student number controls merely layered on top of them. In fact neither of BIS’s two options for application of the Student Number Control to alternative providers apply the same definitions to the controlled population as we use in the public sector (and one of them is radically different). Most critically, neither of the options propose collecting the full HESA data set from alternative providers (although this is described as an option that the providers themselves might wish to take). Without the full HESA dataset, HEFCE will never be able to manage and audit the private sector in the way they do the public: so by choosing not to ask for it, BIS guarantees a twin-track approach into the foreseeable future – and beyond. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Indeed, in other news, HEFCE is pushing ahead with a new Financial Memorandum for the funded part of the sector.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Now in one sense none of this tells us anything very new. Way back in June 2011 I was <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/white-paper-in-six-bullet-points.html">posting</a></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> that the Government had decisively rejected the market model for HE, and that private providers would, in the medium term, find that HEFCE was one of the chief obstacles to their growth plans. It has been clear since <a href="http://www.wonkhe.com/2012/01/24/he-bill-to-be-dropped/">January last</a> </span><span style="font-family: Arial;">that the HE Bill would not be going before Parliament, and therefore that the White Paper’s original aim for a single HE sector was not going to be achieved. What is clearer now, though, is that the Government is no longer even planning for a single sector in future. A Department that still planned to legislate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">eventually</i> could take steps <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">now</i> to put in place the data collection and management systems that will be needed when that time comes – for instance by making the full HESA dataset compulsory for alternative providers. That would shorten the transition time when it comes. Even if the world continues tomorrow, the revolution in English HE is now pretty much over.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-9748786777646587512012-09-27T08:00:00.000+01:002012-09-27T08:00:13.334+01:00Clearing 2012: How wrong was I, and why?<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Back in July, I
wrote a little <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/gearing-up-for-clearing.html">blog post</a></span><a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/gearing-up-for-clearing.html"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> confidently predicting that this year’s
Clearing would be less interesting than was widely expected:</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 36.0pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Somebody, somewhere will have a bad experience
in Clearing because somebody, somewhere always does, but there is no reason to
expect a pattern or trend. Those who do badly this year may do well next. Life
staggers on much as before. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Mark Leach was kind
enough to post it on <a href="http://www.wonkhe.com/2012/07/30/gearing-up-for-clearing/">WonkHE</a></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">, so it gained rather more prominence than
my typical blog post. Since then, anyone watching the press will have read
about the <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=421191&c=1">unmitigated disaster</a> that has rolled over institutions high and low</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. It seems I was too sanguine.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Now my boss regards
me as the most pessimistic man he knows. My previous boss regarded me as the
most pessimistic man she knew (and I doubt that she has met anyone more
pessimistic since). I am proud of this reputation, so although I can live with
being wrong the thought that I might have been too optimistic is like gall and
wormwood to me. For that reason I am going to spend some time first to explain
that I was less wrong than you might think, before moving on to consider why I
was as wrong as I was.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">So firstly, let’s
look at some numbers in perspective. The key report seems to have been <a href="http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2012/20121409">thisUCAS one</a></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> published last week, which shows a 54,200
year-on-year drop in acceptances by year of entry. At that point, Clearing was
far from over (my institution, like many, is still recruiting now and has
always planned to recruit to the end of this week), but the broad shape of the
thing was clear. There is no way that applications in the back end of September
are going to transform the position. 54,200 sounds like a lot – indeed it is
more than a dozen good-sized Universities-worth – but I think some perspective
is needed on this number too.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Acceptances by Region of Institution </span></b><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Source: <a href="http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/stat_services/stats_online/">UCAS</a> </span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">HEI region</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2004</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2005</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2006</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2007</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2008</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2009</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
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<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
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<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2010</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2011</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.7pt;" valign="bottom" width="96">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">North East</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">18,304</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">19,718</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">18,753</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">19,239</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">21,053</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">21,753</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">22,221</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">22,635</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.7pt;" valign="bottom" width="96">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">North West</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">43,880</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">48,746</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">47,977</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">50,631</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">55,754</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">58,104</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">58,687</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">58,962</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 28.5pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 28.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.7pt;" valign="bottom" width="96">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Yorks
& The Humber</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 28.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">39,913</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; height: 28.5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">42,401</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 28.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">41,555</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 28.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">44,755</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 28.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">49,371</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 28.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">49,917</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 28.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">50,759</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 28.5pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">52,019</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.7pt;" valign="bottom" width="96">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">East
Midlands</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">31,009</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">33,165</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">30,579</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">31,969</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">36,426</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">38,532</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">36,703</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">37,945</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.7pt;" valign="bottom" width="96">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">West
Midlands</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">30,132</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">32,310</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">29,825</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">32,907</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">37,204</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">41,600</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">40,244</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">39,414</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.7pt;" valign="bottom" width="96">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Eastern</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">18,848</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">19,928</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">19,232</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">20,247</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">23,838</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">27,311</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">26,271</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">28,348</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.7pt;" valign="bottom" width="96">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Greater
London</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">56,686</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">62,436</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">61,043</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">63,461</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">69,049</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">71,880</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">77,582</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">79,388</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.7pt;" valign="bottom" width="96">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">South East</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">43,031</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">46,555</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">45,317</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">48,359</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">53,189</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">55,398</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">57,286</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">57,141</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.7pt;" valign="bottom" width="96">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">South West</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">29,370</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">32,231</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">30,973</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">33,613</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">36,662</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">37,729</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">40,346</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">39,217</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.7pt;" valign="bottom" width="96">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Total</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">311,173</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">337,490</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">325,254</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">345,181</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">382,546</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">402,224</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">410,099</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 15.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">415,069</span></b><b><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 71.7pt;" valign="bottom" width="96">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">Year-on-year</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">N/A</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">8.5%</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">-3.6%</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">6.1%</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">10.8%</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">5.1%</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">2.0%</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 2.0cm;" valign="bottom" width="76">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm; text-align: right;">
<span style="color: black; font-size: 11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;">1.2%</span><span style="color: black; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">These data are
based on UCAS’ normal practice of quoting the cycle of application rather than
the year of entry, so they aren’t strictly comparable to the year-of-entry
figures in the UCAS report I linked to. Still you can see the point I am trying
to make. 50,000-odd fewer acceptances takes us back to the dark days of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">2007</i>. Now I admit that I am old, and
what hair I have left is grey, but I don’t think I am unique in remembering
2007. What I remember about 2007 is that it was a record year at the time. We haven’t
needed to create a dozen large universities since then to cope with the extra
demand, and I remain unclear that we will have to close a dozen to deal with
the decline.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Moreover if you
look at the UCAS data on deferral, it is clear that one reason we are down on
entry expectations this year is because of the large number of students that </span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">chose
to enter early.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Deferred UK and EU acceptances by UCAS Cycle </span></b><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">source: <a href="http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2012/20121409">UCAS</a></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoTableGrid" style="border-collapse: collapse; border: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-padding-alt: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184;">
<tbody>
<tr style="mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">UCAS
Cycle</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">Entrants</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2008</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">24,587</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2009</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">24,320</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2010</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">23,600</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2011</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">9,516</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="mso-yfti-irow: 5; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">2012</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid windowtext 1.0pt; border-top: none; mso-border-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid windowtext .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 159.6pt;" valign="top" width="213">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">18,161</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So by historic standards we are 14,000 acceptances
down this year because the students have already enrolled and are now entering
their second years. If 2011 applicants were 14,000 more than expected, and 2012
14,000 less then that one factor alone counts for more than half of the </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">54,200 in UCAS’ headline figure.</span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
Besides, if a business can go bust because the customers part with their money
earlier I don’t think we should have much respect for its managers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The rest of the difference between years is down to
the behaviour of applicants in Clearing. According to <a href="http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/PolicyAndResearch/PolicyAreas/Data-Analysis/Pages/Clearing2012.aspx">UUK</a></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">,
there were 167,000-odd unplaced applicants eligible to enter Clearing on 21
September 2012. There are always a lot of unplaced applicants in Clearing, but
whereas there were far more places available in Clearing this year than last,
institutions have only managed to fill about the same number of places in
Clearing (2,800 more placed, leaving the English institutions 27,400 short). So
applicants are unusually reluctant to take their second-choice institutions. I
have <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/outriders-of-aab-apocalypse.html">said</a> a few <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/yet-more-ucas-data.html">times</a> </span><a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/yet-more-ucas-data.html"><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"></span></a><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">
now that this risk existed, but I confess I never really believed it would
happen. So on this point – grudgingly – I admit to having been too confident,
even if I was careful to cover my back by pointing to some downside risks.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">The other big story has been the elite institutions
apparently <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=421124">caught short</a> by AAB.
Sources are trying to spin this as a big embarrassment for the government, but
in fact it has always been clear that if some elite institutions managed to
recruit more AABs, it would be at the expense of other elite institutions.
There <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/core-and-margin-yet-again-drawing-some.html#more">just weren’t that many AABs outside the elite sector in the first place</a>.
It was equally clear that the Government shifted from the original estimate of
65,000 AABs quoted in the <a href="http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/higher-education/docs/h/11-944-higher-education-students-at-heart-of-system.pdf">White Paper</a>
to the 85,000 finally used by HEFCE explicitly because they wanted to be
cautious about the overall numbers recruited this year: they deliberately chose
to err on the side of overestimating AABs (see paragraph 15 <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/media/hefce/content/pubs/2011/201130/11_30.pdf">here</a>).</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So here, the story is of an unexpected degree of
success for the government. I don’t mind failing to foresee success. And indeed
if some institutions have lost as many students as reported, this is a great
success for the government. These large losses will ensure that elite
institutions don’t take their recruitment for granted in future, whilst the
shift to ABB next year should ensure that a slightly different set of
institutions suffer the pain then. This policy is well on track.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;">So now I have done my best to minimise the extent
of my mistakes, why was I wrong?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">If you look at the
data by region in my first table, you can see that the growth since the
entirely arbitrary date of 2004 has been at different rates in different
regions. The Eastern region has grown most rapidly, from a rather small base.
London has also grown very rapidly from a high base. The North East and East
Midlands have been the laggards. <a href="http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/Publications/Pages/Publication-282.aspx">Well-understood demographic change</a> </span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> (and the very different participation
profile in London) account for most of this difference, although poor job
prospects since the 2008 crash have played a role. I am writing from a
London-based perspective and in my own institution we have filled some – if not
all – of the additional places we won under core/margin. We could have wished
to do better but we are perfectly OK, so perhaps this personal experience has
something to do with it.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Status plays a role
as well as location. Another factor may therefore be that my current employer
and my last employer were both unfashionable London universities. For us it is
routine to keep recruiting right the way through to the end of the Clearing
process. Even where Undergraduate numbers may have been filled (in the years
since 2008) we would have stayed open for PG and part-time recruitment. That
has given this year a very ‘business as usual’ feel to me, which it may not
have had for some other colleagues at higher-ranked institutions.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Most important is
to recognise how little has changed. Students’ choice to study last year should
have been – and was – anticipated. The lower volume of applications this year
therefore should have been – and was – anticipated. Almost all the risks we
planned for have not come to pass. Certainly at my institution we have seen no
change in the proportion of our offers being accepted or the proportion of our
firm accepts turning up to enrol. We have not seen sudden or dramatic changes
in application patterns or student tastes. The main cycle of applications
<a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/yet-more-ucas-data.html">tracked closely</a> against historical norms</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. We have seen a change in applicant
behaviour in Clearing. Perhaps this tells us how close to the edge universities
are operating, but I think not. I confidently predict that no university
anywhere will go bust on account of this. Rather it shows what sheltered lives
we mostly lead that people have found this relatively minor issue so shocking.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">So how wrong was I,
and why? Fundamentally I am unwilling to admit that I was very wrong at all. I
think in retrospect we will recognise that the recent press coverage of this
year’s Clearing has been overblown. Competition for the ABBs next year will be
sharp, and as every year a few institutions will have a bad experience in
Clearing. But life staggers on, much as before.</span></div>
Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-82034761976683628492012-09-12T08:30:00.000+01:002012-09-12T08:30:01.750+01:00London Met Again<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/the-business-at-london-met.html">Last week’s post</a>
about London Metropolitan leaped almost instantly into my top-ten of all time,
as measured by pageviews. Not that it takes a whole lot of pageviews to achieve
that in my case, but it is enough to persuade me to write a follow-up post.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Most people will be
aware that London Met has taken <a href="http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/news/news-releases/2012-press-releases/london-met-rejects-ukbas-attack-on-the-higher-education-sector.cfm">legal action</a> against the UKBA</span><a href="http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/news/news-releases/2012-press-releases/london-met-rejects-ukbas-attack-on-the-higher-education-sector.cfm"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. The form of this legal action will take
is <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judicial_review_in_English_law">judicial review</a>.
Judicial review is a process which does exactly what it says on the tin: the
decision taken by a public body (in this case the UKBA) is reviewed by a judge.
There is no nonsense here with a jury. If the judge determines, on review, that
the decision was wrong he (or she, but as this is an English judge we are
talking about, almost certainly he) may quash it.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Now in principle the judge does not reconsider the decision on its merits and
there are only three reasons for which, on review, the judge may decide to quash the
public body's decision. These are:</span></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0cm;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The decision was illegal (typically
because the public body has not correctly applied the law it is supposed
to enforce); </span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The decision was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wednesbury_unreasonableness">unreasonable</a></span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wednesbury_unreasonableness"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. In principle, the standard for unreasonableness
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; tab-stops: list 36.0pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Procedure was not properly followed.
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">However in practice this is far from the case. These three
points have little or nothing to do with who ‘wins’ the case, and the judge's view of the merits is very important. When Queen Mary<a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=402849"> took HEFCE to judicial review</a> about the repayment of a sum of research funding </span><a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=402849"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> the judge found that procedure had not
been properly followed because the wrong person had taken the decision: so
Queen Mary ‘won’. However the only action the judge took was to require HEFCE
to take the decision again. He did nothing to prevent them reaching the same
decision again, and indeed if they bothered to read his judgement (which, at a guess, they
probably did) they would have seen that he approved of the substance of their
decision. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This means that in
judicial review, judges have very substantial leeway to ensure that the outcome
of the case is aligned to their concepts of justice. You know what <a href="http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/politics/2012/09/judge-peter-bowers">liberal milksops</a> these judges are</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>In a case like London Met’s one may well allow
his feelings for the thousands of perfectly legitimate international students
who have had their study thrown into disarray mere days before the start of
term to affect his view of the case, even though an objective person would see
at once that every single one of these alleged ‘students’ was a foreigner.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Now it rarely
happens that a decision is taken with such care and precision that no weakness
of law or procedure can be detected by an alert judge. You get to be a judge by
being much better at law and procedure than the average quangocrat. Moreover
the UKBA is not widely famed for its administrative efficiency, as you can see
from <a href="http://blog.sghmartineau.com/archive/2012/08/01/rules-win-out.aspx">this judgement</a></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> where it got confused between the rules
it exists to implement, and the guidance it gives about those rules, or indeed
this <a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/immigration-report1/">Parliamentary enquiry</a></span><a href="http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/public-accounts-committee/news/immigration-report1/"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></a><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">So there is every
reason to think that London Met’s legal case is not a hopeless one. In the
meantime, continuing students may find that they can remain on the programmes
<a href="http://blog.sghmartineau.com/archive/2012/09/06/more-on-tier-4-existing-students-revocation.aspx">after all</a>, although perhaps not for the <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/2012/name,75306,en.html">whole academic year</a></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">.This may give students a longer period to seek an alternative institution. although it may also mean a longer period of uncertainty for those who are hoping to remain at London Metropolitan.</span></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">The other legal question is whether the students affected by this business are in any position to sue anyone for damages. This is not really my area of expertise, but David Palfreyman has been quoted in the <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=421049&c=1"><i>Higher</i></a> to the effect that they almost certainly can. Presumably the outcome of London Met's case against the UKBA will help to determine who gets sued by the students.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">This will all take a long time to work itself to a conclusion.</span></div>
Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-41366274733048491052012-09-06T08:30:00.000+01:002012-09-06T08:30:03.772+01:00The business at London Met<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">There are so many issues in London Met’s
unfortunate encounter with the UKBA that I scarcely know where to start: so
much blame to be distributed, so many consequences to be guessed at. You have
to eat the elephant one bite at a time.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></span></span></div>
<a name='more'></a>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Firstly, then, in case there are any potential
international students reading this blog who are currently studying or holding
offers at London Metropolitan, how can they hope to begin (or continue) their
studies? If you are in this situation, or know anyone in this situation, you
should have every assurance that pretty much every other university in the UK
is eager to help you.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">For students intending to start at London Met this
autumn, the situation is relatively straightforward. This is the UCAS statement
released on Friday 31 August:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">London Metropolitan
University has today started to release, reject or withdraw UF, CF and CI
2012/2013 applicants into Clearing, and aims to complete this process as soon
as possible. All eligible applicants will move to their insurance choice or
will be released into Clearing. We have put a message on our website to inform
applicants of this issue.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">If you are in Clearing (whether released, rejected
or withdrawn), you can approach any university of your choice and it can make
you an offer instantly. The University of East London has already opened a
specific helpline. Other London Universities have only held back from this step
for fear of seeming desperate, but their Clearing helplines are still open. You
can find some <a href="http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/prospectivestudents/clearing.shtml">here</a>, <a href="http://www.kingston.ac.uk/undergraduate/courses/clearing/">here</a> or <a href="http://www.westminster.ac.uk/courses/clearing">here</a>. Many of these universities have not filled
all the places they hoped to fill with Home/EU undergraduates this year, so
they will certainly have places for Overseas students. There may be delays
issuing your visa in time for the start of term: this isn’t my specialist area.
However many universities can offer you a programme which starts in January or
February if this is an issue.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">British universities are acutely conscious of the
damage this UKBA decision could do to their own future recruitment in your home
country: they will be very keen to help.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span>If
you are part way through your programme, the issue is more complex. The UK does
not have a well-developed system of credit transfer. Most British universities
will recognise the credit you have accumulated in your studies at London
Metropolitan, but there might be issues matching the specific curriculum in
your course to similar courses elsewhere. There might also be issues where you
have studied a module but have yet to pass it – perhaps you are waiting for an
opportunity to resit. There is help: you are one of the group of people for
whom <a href="http://www.hefce.ac.uk/news/newsarchive/2012/name,75258,en.html">HEFCE’s task force</a></span><span> has been designed.
There is also time. If you have read about having to leave this country within
60 days then do be aware that the 60 days haven’t started yet. You will receive
a <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/aug/30/taskforce-london-met-international-students">personal letter</a> from the Government to tell you when that clock starts to
tick.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The Home Office clarified
that the 60-day deadline would only begin once the letters had been delivered
to individual students. The Guardian understands it could be weeks before the
notices, which are a legal necessity, are sent out in order to give genuine
students more time to relocate.'</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">That letter will not be sent to you until <a href="http://www.ukba.homeoffice.gov.uk/sitecontent/newsfragments/72-LMU-student-page">after 1October</a></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">
so you have plenty of time to identify an alternative course. Again, many other
British universities will be eager to help you even if only in order to limit
the damage to their own future recruitment in your home country.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> </span>
</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">London Metropolitan University’s helpline is on
0207 133 4141</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">My final word to any London Met international
student or applicant who may happen to read this is: sorry. I am old enough to
remember when the British used to pride themselves on living in a free country.
Now we native-born Brits just as much as you visitors have to continually prove
to the state that we are legally permitted to remain in our own country.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Those 630 words were written to somebody who could
only have found this blog through a misdirected Google search. The next 600 are
for a more credible readership – people interested in the future of London Met
because they work there, or work elsewhere in the sector. The question is: does
London Met have any future now? The answer – surprisingly – is maybe, which
shows just how much ruin there is in an institution.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The most recent published accounts are for the year
ending July 2011. In that year, London Met’s financial situation was very
precarious indeed. The business generated just £2.909 million in cash from
operating activities. The previous year it was £2.721 million, and in 2011/12
there will have been even more pressure on this figure, because London Met very
significantly over-recruited home/EU students and (after paying the relevant
fine) had to teach those students effectively for free. If you subtract the
£22.578 million of overseas fee income from this figure, you would have had a
business spending nearly £20 million more cash in the year than it was earning.
You go bust when you run out of cash.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">I don’t want to understate how bad this cash
position is. The equivalent figure to that £2.909 in my own institution (also
an unpretentious London new university of much the same size) was ten times as
much – £26.495 million. However London Metropolitan’s balance sheet on 31 July
2011 showed £4.5 million in cash and another £35.5 million in ‘current asset
investments’ (i.e. investments which will take more than 24 hours but less than
a year to turn back into cash). On 18 August 2011 (i.e. after the balance sheet
date) they gained a further £18.3 million from selling property on Tower Hill.
So that is in all nearly £60 million of cash or almost-cash. That is nothing
very special: my own institution held £62.605 million in cash at bank or in
hand (as the accountants say) on 31 July 2011, without having to sell off our
assets. But simple arithmetic shows you that it will take three years to run
out of cash if you have £60 million of the stuff, and lose it at £20 million
per year. Plenty of time, then, for yet another round of severance and course
cuts to take effect.</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The other reason to expect that London Met may
survive is to consider the alternatives. If a publically-funded university such
as London Metropolitan, becomes insolvent then it is likely that the Government
will be liable. The <a href="http://www.nao.org.uk/publications/1011/financial_sustainability_in_he.aspx">NAO</a> put this in measured tones:</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">There is uncertainty about
whether, in law, the taxpayer might be liable for the liabilities of an
institution should it become insolvent. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">If you ask HEFCE executives for their view on this
question they <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/public-accounts-committee-regulating.html">change the subject</a></span><span style="line-height: 115%;">.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">We can be sure, then, that London Met will not be allowed to become insolvent. </span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">There are really only two alternatives to insolvency, and both
are hallowed by tradition: provide grant funding to London Met to prop it up,
or provide grant funding to someone else to take it over. Option two suffers
from a very serious <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_the_cat">who-will-bell-the-cat</a> problem</span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bell_the_cat"><span style="line-height: 115%;"></span></a><span style="line-height: 115%;">.
London Metropolitan is a large institution, with a complex structure. It is
difficult to think of any single London university which could successfully
absorb it, or would even be willing to try. Perhaps some kind of deal could be
constructed to split the assets between a number of other institutions, but I
think it would be difficult to negotiate.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Privatisation strikes me as a complete non-option.
Investors willing to burn cash at the rate of £20 million a year certainly
exist, but they tend to be looking for high-risk high-reward projects like
Udacity, not old economy institutions like a university. There has been <a href="http://www.wonkhe.com/2012/08/23/london-met-outsourcing-or-something-else/">speculation</a> about the development of a shared services model at London Met as a back-door route to privatisation. I think it was always dubious that any HEI would want to share services with such a partner, and much more dubious now.</span></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">So that leaves propping the institution up, and
waiting for it to turn around. This has worked in the past for institutions
like Middlesex and West London (Thames Valley, as was) or, on a smaller scale,
for Ravensbourne. HEFCE has shown the patience in the past to support an
institution for more than a decade, if need be. Moreover the <a href="http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/news/latest-news/2012/july/london-met-governor-appointed-to-hefce.cfm">HEFCE Board</a> now
has one of London Met’s Governors on it</span></span></span><span style="line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-family: Arial; mso-bidi-font-size: 12.0pt;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">,
so the oppositional relationship that developed between HEFCE and London Met’s
senior team ought to be a thing of the past. This is therefore the single most likely outcome for London Met. For staff and students (Home/EU students at least), I'm afraid that means yet more of the same.</span></span></span></div>
Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-15265196753687642422012-08-16T07:30:00.000+01:002012-08-16T07:30:01.736+01:00Targets
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdbxMvnybXKt1gDh-yBB1mQKpOC0E9GVAObGB7kAUo8uaizlrWimqzxlRYxf-mZXsUQwqHRUqAgVWBK9-Pn7S3PGiYfwpK57lLPMGtvFc-9bTSg_lxnVQRDyNJJtQgyFN2cf8VYA2rTo/s1600/Target.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHdbxMvnybXKt1gDh-yBB1mQKpOC0E9GVAObGB7kAUo8uaizlrWimqzxlRYxf-mZXsUQwqHRUqAgVWBK9-Pn7S3PGiYfwpK57lLPMGtvFc-9bTSg_lxnVQRDyNJJtQgyFN2cf8VYA2rTo/s200/Target.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Clearing is here
now, and </span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Jessica
Guiver’s <a href="http://www.theinternationalstudentrecruiter.com/recruitment-targets-%e2%80%93-what-if-you-dont-achieve-them/">blog</a>
about targets – and what happens if you miss them – has got me thinking about
this issue. A recruitment target is a number: it seems clear, precise and very
measurable; but in fact a recruitment target is also a cultural artifact that
can only be understood correctly in a particular context. Let me explain what I
mean.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Broadly
there are two approaches to targets. Some Vice Chancellors I have worked with
in the past have seen targets as an essentially rhetorical device. Their role
is to encourage the troops to try even harder and therefore it isn’t important
that they can necessarily be achieved. It may even be detrimental to the
intended incentive effect. Dull number crunchers like me tend to see targets as
part of a rational planning apparatus in which we work out a budget and
resource model robustly based on a realistic target number. Now whilst these
approaches to targets can be contrasted in principle, in practice they are
continually held in tension. Even the coldest technocrat does not actively wish
to discourage recruitment. Perhaps there are some VCs out there so ardent for
growth that they genuinely don’t care if the students all wind up in one
department whilst the budget to teach them is in another, but they assuredly
employ many people – both academic staff and accountants – who do.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"></span></div>
<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">This brings
out the second point. Although targets might in principle be set by a single
person (and when I was a Head of Planning I worked hard to assert that the
person in question was me), they are used and understood by a community. This
is a bureaucratic institution, so not all the members of the community have
equal consideration given to their views, but many are in a position of some
influence. If the targets set by the VC are too high to carry conviction to the
chief management accountant, he or she may start using different means to
estimate income, or place very large contingencies in place to cover
under-recruitment. Perhaps academic departments find that no-one ever meets
their targets, yet this never seems to have financial consequences. Suppose
that there is a downturn in certain overseas markets: a target is going to be
missed, but who owns it? The international office and the academic departments
are likely to contest this issue and the matter may come down to which heads of
department have the most prestige in the institution, rather than any facts of
the case.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The targets
are used in different ways at different times, and the same person may seek to
present the same target in a different light later on. A Dean of Faculty with
stretching targets will use them to press for resources when budgets are set
(‘I need to be able to teach all these students’). Later, when targets have
been missed, the same individual may take a different view to try to fend off
adverse budget consequences (‘these targets were never realistic’).</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">A war story
of mine which I will include here because I am fond of it and this is my blog
relates to Level Zero programmes. For readers in grander institutions which
don’t have these, they are four-year versions of standard UG degree programmes
where the first year is below degree level, and essentially remedial. Entrants
to these programmes typically have very few UCAS tariff points and my former
institution decided at a high level to move away from them for league table
reasons. My view was that this decision was wrong both on its own merits (the
extra UCAS tariff points wouldn’t actually have been enough to move us up the
table), on revenue grounds (with a limit on recruitment, why substitute 3-year
programmes for 4-year programmes?) and because it undermined our WP mission.
When I came to discuss targets with the Deans they were each easily persuaded
that moving numbers from Year 0 to Year 1 was too much of a risk to their
budget at a time when demand might be weak. So you see even the planners
themselves undermine the inter-relationship between plan, strategy and targets
when it suits them to do so.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">So
conclusion one: If Jessica misses her target, the consequences will depend on
the culture and internal politics of her institution, and particularly on how
well regarded the director of internationalisation is. </span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Conclusion
two takes us back to the Student Number Control. The SNC is a number: it seems
clear, precise and very measurable. But unlike the targets in institutions,
there is no tension here between different ways of interpreting it. The SNC
means what HEFCE’s Analytical Services Group say it means, and they are the
acme of the rational technocrats.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I have been
<a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/outriders-of-aab-apocalypse.html">critical</a> in the past of managers who have failed to navigate these waters
successfully, and fallen into over-recruitment as a consequence</span><span lang="EN-US" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">. This post maybe helps to explain
how such errors are possible, but I hope it won’t be taken to condone. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germaine_de_Sta%C3%ABl">Someone</a> once said that to understand all is to forgive all, but it wasn't me.</span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"></span></div>
Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-67648111051371601852012-07-30T08:30:00.000+01:002012-07-30T08:30:01.088+01:00Gearing up for ClearingWe are in the final stages, now of preparing for Clearing. My direct role in this process is a fairly limited one - I had a discussion yesterday about what budget code we should assign to the bottled water that keeps the Clearing team hydrated, but actually I don't even sign off the purchase order at the end of the day. Making Clearing happen is a major undertaking: the first morning puts a strain on out telephone and IT systems that nothing else in the year comes close to matching. This post isn't mainly about the mechanics of Clearing, though, because this is a planning blog. It is mostly about more of a macro-level issue: will we all get enough students to meet our budgets whilst staying below our student number control limits? The answer, of course, is no: but not in a very interesting way.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
The basic shape of the picture has been clear since <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/yet-more-ucas-data.html">January</a>. There has been a sharp fall in mature applicants, but overall the number of applicants is higher than the number of places available, and not far out of line with numbers in 2010. There is no reason to think that the sector is going to run out of applicants before every university is full. Martin Hall has a more recent discussion <a href="http://www.corporate.salford.ac.uk/leadership-management/martin-hall/blog/2012/07/admissions/">here</a>. He emphasises the point that we can't see patterns or trends in most of the data:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: black;">Despite claims to the contrary, there is no obvious correlation with fee levels at the level of the individual university. For example, London Metropolitan, which has made a point of charging the lowest fees among English universities, has 15.5% fewer applicants. The University of Central Lancashire, which had adopted the opposite strategy and announced fees of £9 000 for all its programmes, is 6% higher than London Met. There is no easy relationship with reputational category. The University of Liverpool, a Russell Group university, reports applications down by 11%. Lancaster University, which has been closely associated with Liverpool over the past year or more, sees its applications rise by 5% over the previous year, which is 15% higher than the average for England. Oxford is down by just short of 1%, while Cambridge is up by 2%. It would be trivial to suggest that this is due to the outcome of the Boat Race, but there’s no better explanation to hand.</span></blockquote>
And UCAS themselves have published an in-depth analysis <a href="http://www.ucas.com/about_us/media_enquiries/media_releases/2012/2012applicationsanalysis">here</a>, which comes to the same conclusions.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">In other words most of the year-on-year changes seem to be random statistical fluctuations - noise.</span><br />
<br />
So why do I say that not all institutions will recruit enough students whilst remaining below their student number control limits? I can see a few potentially significant causes of confusion:<br />
<ul>
<li>Insurance accepts (1). Many institutions have set their offer at AAB this year, even those who would not normally expect to recruit at that level. This means many students will be holding <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/higher-education-network/blog/2012/jul/23/university-clearing-crisis-aab-offers">both a main and insurance offer at AAB</a> - because all the offers they got were AAB. The institutions will admit many students who miss this AAB offer, but will do so where it makes sense for them, based on their other applicants. This may take a while, and result in some highly-qualified students finding themselves in Clearing whilst they wait to find out what their insurance institution will do. UCAS are sufficiently concerned about this that they wrote a circular to VCs on the issue last week. </li>
<li>Insurance accepts (2). In my own institution our offer is not close to AAB. We normally assume that roughly none of our insurance accepts will actually come and study, but perhaps this year they will have fewer other options, and so will come to us after all. If they make that decision late in the cycle, we could find ourselves over-recruited.</li>
<li>Trading up. It is rare for students who get better than expected A-levels to trade up in UCAS, but perhaps under the AAB rules, institutions will be offering stronger inducements. This one is unlikely to have much impact on my institution.</li>
<li>Sticker shock. It bears repeating that at the £9,000 level, English HE is now the most expensive system anywhere in the world, <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/09/comparing-english-and-american-he.html">far more expensive than the average American university</a>, for instance. So far, this has had less impact on applicant decision-making than anyone could have predicted, but perhaps there will be a significant group of students who get cold feet at the last minute. We plan for a specific level of now-shows amongst our firmly-accepted unconditional offers (UFs) in UCAS, so if this level increases, we will find we have under-recruited.</li>
<li>Simple incompetence. In general, I don't believe that management in the HE sector is more clueless than elsewhere, but some management is clueless in every sector, and HE is <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=420639">no exception</a>. </li>
</ul>
There is one thing, though, that won't make any difference this year: the private sector. The public sector of HE will admit very roughly <a href="http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/stat_services/stats_online/annual_datasets_to_download/">400,000 FTUG</a> students (<a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/more-ucas-data.html">350,000</a> of whom will be subject to SNC or AAB+), the private sector maybe 10,000. It will take a few years of growth before the private sector is really making much difference.<br />
<br />
If you look across my bullet points, I think you will agree that the first four can only have a marginal impact. Perhaps 90% of our firm accepts will turn up, rather than the 95% we planned on: this will be a pain, but hardly world-changing. Only my last point - incompetence - is capable of making a really major impact, and even then only when it reaches pretty astonishing levels. Most of us will land up within a very few percent of our student number targets, just as (for full time home undergraduates) we always do.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Back in February I identified the four horsemen of the <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/outriders-of-aab-apocalypse.html">coming AAB apocalypse</a>, and showed that even under some pretty implausible assumptions about how badly they might do, apocalypse would overwhelm them rather slowly. Since then we have determined that the AAB boundary will come down next year to ABB. This is a small change: it will make little difference to the poshest institutions almost entirely above AAB, and little difference to the less prestigious who are almost entirely far below. But it will provide significant relief to those institutions worst affected because they are cut in half at the AAB level. </span><br />
<br />
So on the one hand we see largely random year-on-year fluctuations, and on the other we see policy changing - albeit slowly. Both of these factors mean that pressure will likely fall on different institutions next year than it has this.<br />
<br />
<span style="color: black;">Somebody, somewhere will have a bad experience in Clearing because somebody, somewhere always does, but there is no reason to expect a pattern or trend. Those who do badly this year may do well next. Life staggers on much as before. Will we all get enough students to meet our budgets whilst staying below our student number control limits? The answer, of course, is no: but not in a very interesting way.</span>Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-29825487195489944812012-07-27T15:01:00.001+01:002012-07-27T15:01:41.986+01:00Degree Awarding Powers: Confusion reducedA follow up to my post from <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/more-confusion-about-degree-awarding.html">earlier today</a>. Whilst <a href="http://www.educationinvestor.co.uk/ShowArticle.aspx?ID=2888">Education Investor</a> repeats the BBC story that two private providers have gained degree awarding powers, a colleague from BIS has responded promptly and unequivocally to my email as follows:<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">
<span style="color: blue; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I can confirm that the online list of recognised bodies is complete and accurate. The BBC story is incorrect in its statement that the second institution to be granted degree awarding powers this week is a private college. The other institution is a publicly-funded institution that receives HEFCE funding.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"></span></div>Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-70717808739608336242012-07-27T13:12:00.000+01:002012-07-27T13:12:25.250+01:00More confusion about Degree Awarding PowersThe news in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18996223">BBC</a> and <em><a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=420708&c=1">Times Higher</a></em> that Regent's College has been granted degree awarding powers will come as a surprise to nobody likely to be reading a blog like this one. What came as a very severe shock to me, though, was this language in the BBC report:<br />
<br />
'It [i.e. Regent's] is one of two private colleges being given degree-awarding powers this week....The identity of the second college has not yet been made public, with government officials saying it is up to that institution to make its announcement.' <br />
<br />
There is nothing like this mentioned in the <em>Higher</em> story, so I very much hope it is a BBC reporter's misunderstanding (The Royal Academy of Music has recently been awarded DAPs, and as far as I can see from their <a href="http://www.ram.ac.uk/news">website </a>hasn't made a public announcement, but the RAM is certainly not a private college). BIS maintain a list of bodies with Degree Awarding Powers <a href="http://www.bis.gov.uk/policies/higher-education/recognised-uk-degrees/recognised-bodies#Alpha_B">here</a>. If it is really true that BIS is allowing private colleges with degree awarding powers to stay off this list until they wish to publicise their new powers, that would strike me as a very surprising thing indeed. It would call into question the Government's commitment to a 'level playing field' between public and private providers, not to say basic standards of openness in public administration.<br />
<br />
I tried to speak to someone at BIS to gain clarification, but when she discovered I wasn't a journalist, the operator refused to put me through so I've had to fire off an email. When I get a response, I'll post an update.<br />
<br />Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-7737333348923988412012-07-16T13:00:00.000+01:002012-07-16T13:00:12.507+01:00<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;">Muhammad Saleem from Online Colleges sent me this infographic about MOOCs. I don't agree with everything it says (see my post <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/another-post-about-udacity.html">here</a>), but I thought it was interesting enough to be worth sharing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 9pt;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br /><br />
<a href="http://www.onlinecolleges.net/2012/07/11/the-world-of-massive-open-online-courses/"><img alt="The World of Massive Open Online Courses" border="0" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/infographics/MOOCs-800.png" width="500" /></a><br />
Presented By: <a href="http://www.onlinecolleges.net/">Online Colleges</a><br />
<br />
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, neither Muhammad nor any of his associates has offered me a bribe or other inducement to republish this content.Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-62696288837021126532012-07-11T14:00:00.000+01:002012-07-11T14:00:07.708+01:00Cash is fungibleDewi Knight has an interesting post on <a href="http://www.wonkhe.com/2012/07/10/white-paper-wales-and-the-weather/">WonkHE</a> about the developing Welsh approach to HE. As Dewi highlights, part of the mood music which Welsh politicians use to accompany their policy proposals is the decisive rejection of market (and English) models. The Welsh Government even plans to take powers so that it can fund specific universities directly.<br />
<br />
One of my occasional themes on this blog is that developments in different parts of the UK are not as different as they appear, and this is a good example. English Ministers emphasise the language of competition and markets, whilst Welsh Ministers use different language, but both are engaged in projects to reshape their respective HE sectors to the needs (as perceived by Ministers) of students and employers. Both are seeking to enhance their regulatory control over their respective sectors.<br />
<br />
It is inconceivable that English Ministers could seek powers to fund institutions directly (even if they dared to bring forward an <a href="http://www.wonkhe.com/2012/01/24/he-bill-to-be-dropped/">HE Bill</a> at all...), but the pound a Welsh Minister grants to a Welsh institution will have exactly the same purchasing power as the pound an English student pays in state-subsidised fees when the English funding council decides to increase an institution's Student Number Control. Cash is fungible.Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-30862018369296409082012-07-09T08:00:00.000+01:002012-07-09T08:00:06.682+01:00Changing Universities<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKwx6caaLVWek2_Fg4QyBYE9XAdhwew3lGzP_at-1vrpOYJdlnDaVczuGXQ-DZq7N4cLtqF2l1XuzscKTMpnQIUv94AVaWMwsMTWcEc_GBuIY_lvou0_N1GIGYfRo6aPBrM1_2UQu6LI/s1600/AUA.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBKwx6caaLVWek2_Fg4QyBYE9XAdhwew3lGzP_at-1vrpOYJdlnDaVczuGXQ-DZq7N4cLtqF2l1XuzscKTMpnQIUv94AVaWMwsMTWcEc_GBuIY_lvou0_N1GIGYfRo6aPBrM1_2UQu6LI/s1600/AUA.gif" /></a></div>
On Friday I attended the <a href="http://www.aua.ac.uk/">Association of University Administrators</a>' <span style="background-color: white;">open forum </span><i style="background-color: white;">Managing Change. </i><span style="background-color: white;">This is the third of these annual events and interesting war stories are always exchanged. Unfortunately the <a href="http://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/chathamhouserule-translations">Chatham House rule</a> was in operation, so I can't discuss </span><span style="background-color: white;">what I heard very freely.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white;">What I will do is to post a link to the group's online resource <a href="http://www.changinguniversities.com/">Changing Universities</a>, and encourage any readers who are involved in managing change in universities to consider getting involved in the group. If nothing else, the meetings provide a level of social support: it gives me reassurance to know that no-one else has completely resolved the issues that I can't resolve either. </span>Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-82178364388350056512012-07-05T12:40:00.002+01:002012-07-05T12:40:49.741+01:00The BPP School of Health<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghz1LAJUBBhzrBZwDP3PNxBFBax704yVYhQ8c0677DrRRxM3e1iylO13n5r7n8_D-lB7wjRFQfmPspm5jA9G1ZKHy8LiDzz-4KmtPENdmZh0AGfNyv0EBgI05ra6DNTi2-hv0tdr3uVxs/s1600/ECMImage.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghz1LAJUBBhzrBZwDP3PNxBFBax704yVYhQ8c0677DrRRxM3e1iylO13n5r7n8_D-lB7wjRFQfmPspm5jA9G1ZKHy8LiDzz-4KmtPENdmZh0AGfNyv0EBgI05ra6DNTi2-hv0tdr3uVxs/s1600/ECMImage.png" /></a></div>
<a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18712289">Yesterday's news</a> that BPP is branching out into a new professional area by launching a <a href="http://www.bpp.com/undergraduate-course-listing/listing/undergraduate/125?p">School of Health</a> provides a good example of the way our HE system continues to evolve only haltingly towards a more open market, and some of the important barriers that still exist to private providers. The specific subjects offered are Psychology, Chiropractic and a little Nursing, as well as entry-level programmes designed for healthcare workers with very limited formal qualifications.<br />
<br />
I'll take these in reverse order. As the existing health professions continue to evolve (nurses take on jobs formerly done by doctors, and become an all-graduate profession) there has been increasing emphasis on formal training and development for health care assistants and other support workers. <a href="http://www.lsbu.ac.uk/hsc/courses/foundation.shtml">London South Bank</a>, for instance, offers a range of Foundation Degrees aimed at these workers and closely aligned with local NHS Trust. You will see from the materials I linked to that students are either in NHS employment, or offered NHS training contracts before they come on the course. So there's nothing very new in what BPP are offering, and their integration with employers (the key competitive advantage they have in e.g. Accountancy or Law as compared to the established universities) is not all that strong.<br />
<br />
Chiropractic is another interesting choice, because it is a profession not regulated by the <a href="http://www.hpc-uk.org/aboutregistration/professions/">Health Professions Council</a>. Psychology is regulated by the BPS, but unlike most existing University programmes (including private providers like <a href="http://www.buckingham.ac.uk/sciences/bsc/psychology">Buckingham</a>), BPP's programme doesn't seem to have <a href="http://www.bps.org.uk/careers-education-training/accredited-courses-training-programmes/accredited-courses-training-progra">BPS accreditation</a>. No doubt BPP will gain accreditation in time, and develop increasingly strong NHS links, but we also see how the forest of poorly-coordinated regulatory bodies that surrounds the existing HE sector (and are a royal pain from a day-to-day management perspective) make it difficult even for respected providers like BPP to break open new areas.<br />
<br />
Why haven't BPP chosen some easier targets? This little table shows you that:<br />
<br />
<br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 4.6pt; width: 511px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 36.0pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td style="border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 36.0pt; mso-border-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">JACS2
Subject Line<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 36.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Applications<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 36.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Accepts<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-left: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 36.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-top-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">Ratio of
apps to accs (:1)<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.8pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 12.8pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">A1 -
Pre-clinical Medicine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.8pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">84,598<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.8pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">7,798<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.8pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">10.8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.7pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 13.7pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">A2 -
Pre-clinical Dentistry<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.7pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">12,712<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.7pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">1,196<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.7pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">10.6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.2pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 13.2pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">B1 -
Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">30,466<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">3,315<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.2pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">9.2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.05pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.05pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">B7 -
Nursing<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.05pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">218,599<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.05pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">24,587<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.05pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">8.9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.55pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 13.55pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">D1 -
Pre-clinical Veterinary Medicine<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.55pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">8,485<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.55pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">971<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.55pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">8.7<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 13.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">B8 -
Medical Technology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">14,608<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">1,804<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">8.1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.95pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 13.95pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">X1 -
Training Teachers<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.95pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">58,374<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.95pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">7,388<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.95pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">7.9<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 12.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">B2 -
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmacy<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">32,849<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">4,539<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 12.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">7.2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.35pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">L5 -
Social Work<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">81,285<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">11,334<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">7.2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.85pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 13.85pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">W4 - Drama<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.85pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">53,942<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.85pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">7,464<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.85pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">7.2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.35pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 13.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">K1 -
Architecture<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">31,062<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">4,379<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">7.1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.55pt; mso-yfti-irow: 12;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 13.55pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">Y Combs of
soc studies/law with business<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.55pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">20,293<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.55pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">2,995<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.55pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">6.8<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.75pt; mso-yfti-irow: 13;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 13.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">L1 -
Economics<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">51,603<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">7,800<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.75pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">6.6<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 13.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 14;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 13.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">C3 -
Zoology<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">9,991<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">1,544<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 13.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">6.5<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.15pt; mso-yfti-irow: 15;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.15pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">B4 -
Nutrition<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.15pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">7,139<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.15pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">1,150<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.15pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">6.2<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.35pt; mso-yfti-irow: 16;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">C7 -
Molecular Biology, Biophysics & Biochem<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">17,436<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">2,872<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.35pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 9pt;">6.1<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 14.25pt; mso-yfti-irow: 17; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td style="border-top: none; border: solid black 1.0pt; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-left-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 198.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="265">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<b><span style="font-size: 9pt;"> Total all subjects<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 69.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="93">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">2,847,012<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 50.85pt;" valign="bottom" width="68">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">492,030<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
<td style="border-bottom: solid black 1.0pt; border-left: none; border-right: solid black 1.0pt; border-top: none; height: 14.25pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid black .5pt; mso-border-right-alt: solid black .5pt; padding: 0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; width: 64.45pt;" valign="bottom" width="86">
<div align="right" class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: right;">
<b><span style="font-size: 9pt;">5.8<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white;">Source:</span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span><a href="http://www.ucas.ac.uk/about_us/stat_services/stats_online/data_tables/subject/2011" style="background-color: white;">UCAS</a><br />
<br />
These are 2011 data on subject areas with many applications, and high application-to-acceptance ratios. In other words the market is here. Drama is in there, where the barrier to entry is capital costs rather than regulation, but for the most part the dominance of health and related subjects is clear.<br />
<br />
From David Willetts' perspective there is very little he can do about this, of course. The HPC, the BPS and the NHS don't answer to him.Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-52593700172527971002012-06-29T09:00:00.000+01:002012-06-29T09:00:04.895+01:00UnderstatementThere are some significant differences between the cultures of US and UK journalism, as becomes pretty clear from even a quick scan of the headlines. Usually I think the British headline writers show more verve and humour, but sometimes the American approach wins out, as in this case where the <a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/9357875/How-foreign-students-with-lower-grades-jump-the-university-queue.html"><i>Telegraph</i>'s</a> story is reported in the <i>Chronicle </i>under the truly delicious title <a href="http://chronicle.com/blogs/global/foreign-students-said-to-get-a-leg-up-in-admission-to-british-universities/33575">Foreign Students Said to Get a Leg Up in Admission to British Universities</a>.<br />
<br />
<br />Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-6838428783411320852012-06-27T08:00:00.000+01:002012-06-27T08:00:15.918+01:00Gove lays a trap for the Russell GroupIt has long been clear to most observers that Michael Gove is not truly a Conservative, but instead a leftist agent provocateur determined to <a href="http://acceleratethecontradictions.blogspot.co.uk/2010/04/accelerate-contradictions-notes-towards.html">heighten the contradictions</a> inherent in Conservative educational policy until the whole structure collapses. If anyone had doubted this before, then his proposal to <a href="http://www.wonkhe.com/2012/06/25/the-rise-and-rise-of-michael-gove/">curry favour amongst the Tory grassroots</a> by <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-18529471">reversing the Thatcher government's key school reform</a> surely marks the point at which he threw the mask aside.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a>At a slightly earlier stage, when he was still trying to show a little subtlety, Gove came up with the idea of getting Russell Group universities to quality-assure A-levels. You might have thought that this would be a benefit to elite institutions, which would be able to shape curricula to reflect their own requirements, and address the issues of under-preparation that they have <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=410994">often complained about</a>. The publication of Ofqual's <a href="http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/files/2012-06-18-a-level-reform-consultation.pdf">consultation</a> shows how far adrift you were if you were thinking like that.<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
73. [W]e need assurances of an appropriate level of engagement and that, as far as is possible, all universities value all A levels equally. Therefore we propose that we will require two types of evidence:<br />a. First, we will require evidence that there has been general engagement at a subject level. The exam boards may set up or use existing subject groups, development committees or forums to inform the development of specifications (where no core content has been agreed).<br />b. We will also require more formal sign-off from a number of respected universities who are willing for their institutions to publicly endorse a qualification. In his letter to us in March 2012, the Secretary of State suggested that these should be ‘our best, research intensive universities such as those represented by the Russell Group’. It is difficult for us, and indeed the higher education sector, to identify definitively these universities, which may vary by subject. Therefore we will work with universities to decide who this should be. The details of this may depend on the evidence of engagement above, but we expect that these specific endorsements at institution level will be published in each exam board’s specification.</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
74. Therefore we propose the following condition setting out the minimum evidence of support that we will need:</blockquote>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Condition 8 – Evidence of support<br />An awarding organisation must be able to demonstrate, through the publication of formal evidence, that for each GCE qualification which it makes available or proposes to make available it:<br /><ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">has had significant and relevant subject engagement in the content and design from Higher Education and learned societies;</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">has the support* of at least 20 UK universities, at least 12 of which are respected in the specific field of study and/or from those deemed to be leading research institutions; and</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">has been developed in consultation with schools and/or colleges to ensure that the qualification is manageable for successful delivery and, where appropriate, in consultation with employers.</span></li>
</ul>
* This support must indicate that those universities:<br /><ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">endorse the qualification, in particular its content, as suitable for progression to UK Higher Education courses in that subject or related subjects; and</span></li>
<li><span style="background-color: white;">are satisfied that the qualification should present no barriers to equal access for students to the full range of universities.</span></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<br />
If you look carefully, you will see two conditions that it will be virtually impossible for any Russell Group institution (still less 12 of them) to sign up to:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="background-color: white;"> </span>
all universities value all A levels equally; and</li>
<li> [these A levels] present no barriers to equal access for students to the full range of universities
</li>
</ul>
<div>
On the contrary, the current position of the Russell Group is that certain A-level subjects present <a href="http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/informed-choices/">very serious barriers to access</a>, and students who have the misfortune to have studied more than one of them cannot expect entry to a prestigious institution. More 'traditional and theoretical' subjects like History are OK, whilst more 'vocational and practical' ones like Media Studies are not. (Having as PhD in history, and medieval administrative history at that, I am particularly well placed to appreciate the irony of labelling this a 'theoretical' subject.)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
But the Russell Group are not so easily fooled as the <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2162369/Michael-Gove-plans-scrap-dumbed-GCSEs-bring-O-Levels.html">Daily Mail</a>. In fact they have managed to come up with an excuse for opting out of this arrangement that drips with even more irony than Gove's original proposal: <a href="http://www.russellgroup.ac.uk/russell-group-latest-news/151-2012/5299-ofqual-alevel-reform-consultation/">The time of their staff is too precious to waste in meetings</a>.</div>
<br />Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-84484047362973641222012-06-26T08:00:00.000+01:002012-06-26T08:00:06.751+01:00Another post about Udacity<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifRfuIPCEm67FSkBRKH0WjcKDI7vANC-gV6hCn0zFDNBP5BxLAdT5bd3A-wObOCzhZkBN9h58kCi4zUEfxse8FspthpaUEPdizXwDgCBu6akVFVj8ZxAKrwDJygPX2G6ZxRr3Fts3ik8M/s1600/demotivational-posters-facebook-you.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEifRfuIPCEm67FSkBRKH0WjcKDI7vANC-gV6hCn0zFDNBP5BxLAdT5bd3A-wObOCzhZkBN9h58kCi4zUEfxse8FspthpaUEPdizXwDgCBu6akVFVj8ZxAKrwDJygPX2G6ZxRr3Fts3ik8M/s200/demotivational-posters-facebook-you.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I posted about <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/udacity.html">Udacity</a> previously. At the time, I couldn't understand how anybody was proposing to make any money out of the project, and I see that more eminent people than me <a href="http://registrarism.wordpress.com/2012/06/20/making-money-from-moocs/">still can't</a>. This reflects our old-economy idea that a business has to have revenue. I have since come to understand that in the internet economy it is far from unusual for businesses to have no revenue, in fact it is <a href="http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2012/05/17/counterparties-1-pinterest1-5-instagrams/">normal</a>. The value of a company in this case is the group of users that it can bring to a better-established internet company, or the defensive value that the better-established company can gain by buying an upstart before it becomes a rival. In this context, Udacity (or any other learning provider) can make a fortune for its owners if it establishes a large user base and then sells out to Google or Facebook, even if no-one ever works out a way to cover the costs of the business in the meantime.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Understanding this helps me to place some other things in context too. Drop-out from these kinds of programmes is truly <a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/11/experts-speculate-possible-business-models-mooc-providers">catastrophic</a> if your comparator is a <a href="http://registrarism.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/the-imperfect-university-massive-open-online-confusion/">traditional</a> university programme. <i><a href="http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/06/11/experts-speculate-possible-business-models-mooc-providers">Inside Higher Ed</a></i> says that '<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">generally between 10 and 20 percent' of students make it to the final exam in an individual course, roughly equivalent to a UK module. In currently-existing British universities, by contrast, 86.9% of (<a href="http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2064&Itemid=141">Undergraduate</a>) students successfully complete their (3+year) programmes and get an award. If your comparison is other internet experiences, though, getting 10-20% of your users as deeply engaged as to complete an entire course of study probably seems like an outstanding metric.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">It follows from this, of course, that the learner is not the customer in this case. That may not be an issue: I don't use Facebook myself, but I do use Google and (obviously) Blogger, so perhaps my choice of illustration for this post shows a certain double standard. Besides, it isn't always clear that the learner is the customer in traditional education models either: this is sharply contested by some.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">It also follows from this that Udacity is a bit less interesting than I previously thought. In my <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/udacity.html">last post on the subject</a> I was impressed by the audacity of taking both teaching and assessment out of the University offer, but now that I understand this as just one of many approaches to putting engaging content online so as to grow a significant user community it seems a lot less exciting, and a lot less relevant to my day-to-day work. If the experience is engaging, it will literally never matter if the assessment and certification 'issues' go unresolved; if the experience is not engaging it is also unlikely to matter whether assessment and certification can be resolved. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">So to go back to <a href="http://registrarism.wordpress.com/2012/05/16/the-imperfect-university-massive-open-online-confusion/">Paul Greatrix</a>, I think the 'confusion' was probably more in his mind (and mine) than in the minds at Udacity, Coursera and the others. </span></span>Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-38722066450079826342012-06-13T08:30:00.000+01:002012-06-13T08:30:05.199+01:00An apology to the reporting staff at THEWhen I read in the <i><a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=420221&c=1">Times Higher</a></i> that the Campaign for Science and Engineering was explicitly calling for less democracy in our legislature so as to preserve sinecures for professional scientists, I have to confess that my instant assumption was that the <i>THE </i>had misunderstood, and perhaps even deliberately.<br />
<br />
But it turns out that really is what <a href="http://blog.sciencecampaign.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/House-of-Lords-Reform-and-Expertise4.pdf">CaSE</a> are calling for.<br />
<br />
I hope the editorial staff at THE, and Paul Jump in particular, will accept this post by way of an apology.Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-50118940764966729212012-05-30T08:00:00.000+01:002012-05-30T08:00:11.530+01:00A sign of lifeThings have been quiet on this blog recently. Since I changed jobs six months ago I have had less time free for blogging, and my focus at work has been less on the external issues of finance, policy, regulation, new providers and the other stuff I blog about, more on the internal day-to-day management of an institution. Amongst other things I have missed were the anniversary of my <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2011/05/apologia-pro-bloga-sua.html">first post</a>, which should have been an opportunity for some self-indulgent reflection on my progress.<br />
<br />
The joy of self-indulgence is that just because you miss an opportunity it doesn't mean you can't go ahead and do it anyway. So here goes.<br />
<br />
Although no-one could call this blog 'prominent', I've achieved the objectives that I set for myself in beginning it.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>My most-viewed posts have been this one about <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/i-return-to-key-information-set.html">KIS</a>, this one about <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/02/core-and-margin-yet-again-drawing-some.html">core/margin</a>, and this one about <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/hefce-1204-consultation-on-new-funding.html">HEFCE funding</a>. Even put together they currently stand at just over 1,000 page views so they haven't set the world on fire, but they have provided a practitioner view on issues of regulation and funding, which is what I set out to do.</li>
<li>The blog has always been a vanity project, and it pleased my vanity that <a href="http://www.wonkhe.com/2012/03/19/strategies-for-student-number-control/">this post</a> got a mention in the <a href="http://blogs.ft.com/ftdata/2012/03/30/he-big-bang/#axzz1qc5mlHr1">FT</a>, and <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/college-of-law-misunderstandings.html">this post</a> got me into Private Eye. However my all-time favourite vanity boost was when <a href="http://crookedtimber.org/2012/03/26/attacking-community-colleges/#comment-408114">Daniel Davies</a> felt it was worth mentioning that <i>I</i> respected <i>his</i> opinion. For a blogger, this is something like having <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Stubbs">William Stubbs</a> seeking out your views on medieval English history.</li>
<li>And I have met a few people outside cyberspace who claimed to read my blog: three I think, but every little counts.</li>
</ul>
Having achieved my blogging ambitions, I would like to keep achieving them for a bit longer, so I will be trying to ensure that I continue to post a little more often than I have in the recent past, and trying to ensure that I make those substantive posts that are worth reading.Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-89616997252454872992012-04-25T08:30:00.000+01:002012-04-25T08:30:00.974+01:00The College of Law: More misinformation<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is absolutely fine that the Guardian doesn't read <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/04/college-of-law-misunderstandings.html">my blog</a> (you can supply your own peeved tone of voice for this sentence if you wish), but it is a shame they didn't read <a href="http://www.wonkhe.com/2012/04/19/the-college-of-law-misunderstandings-continue/">WonkHE</a> before putting <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/apr/23/college-of-law-private-sale">more misinformation</a> about the sale of the College of Law in the public domain. To repeat, the degree awarding powers of the College have not been sold, and the concern identified in the piece is mostly either inaccurate or beside the point. This, in particular, is pure tosh:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">These mechanisms appear to avoid many of the difficulties involved in transferring the valuable power to award degrees, which most institutions have earned over years – sometimes centuries – to new organisations, and offer for-profit companies a way into the booming higher education market.<br />This could be especially valuable since the higher education white paper, which had included measures to make it easier for new providers to award degrees, has been indefinitely delayed.</span></blockquote>
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The proposals in the White Paper were to make it easier for organisations that do not teach to get degree awarding powers. In the College of Law case, Montagu has bought the teaching business and the scope for teaching businesses (such as BPP, for instance) to earn degree awarding powers is now well established in England. The future, profit-making, College of Law will therefore not be doing anything new by having degree awarding powers and would have been quite able to gain them under existing powers and practices in the pre-White Paper world. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The concerns reported from UCU and QAA</span></div>
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">"What the College of Law shows is that charity law isn't enough," says UCU's general secretary, Sally Hunt. "The government needs to take urgent action to ensure that public assets and investment are protected and any change of ownership should trigger an immediate review of degree-awarding powers."<br />....<br />The Quality Assurance Agency is also seeking discussions on this with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. "It is an issue we have raised some concerns about," says Stephen Jackson, the QAA's director of reviews. "The concern is that new owners might have plans for an entity which might go beyond those originally envisaged when it was given degree-awarding powers."</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">whilst perhaps valid in other contexts (such as the sale of BPP, for instance) have nothing to do with this case where the entity which will change ownership is not the charity with degree-awarding powers, but a new, specially-created company. Whatever proposal Montagu and the College have agreed to ensure that this company gains DAPs (I speculated here, but there are other possible approaches), it will certainly not involve a change of ownership of the existing chartered corporation, which is the legal entity with DAPs.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Surely blogs are the place for baseless speculation, whilst respectable newspapers should be reporting the facts?</span></div>Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-38859501803558458152012-04-24T09:03:00.000+01:002012-04-24T09:03:45.665+01:00New College of the Humanities Enters Clearing<span style="font-family: inherit;">Working in one of London's less-fashionable Universities, I am familiar with the kind of press releases institutions produce when they are going into Clearing. <a href="http://www.nchum.org/news/2012/04/new-college-of-the-humanities-makes-first-major-tranche-of-offers-as-it-prepares-for-first-cohort-of-students/">New College of the Humanities</a> hasn't yet quite mastered the genre. There should be a reference to 'a few' places still being available, so the statement right at the end of the release</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.nchum.org/student-finance/scholarships-and-exhibitions" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; border-bottom-style: none; border-color: initial; border-image: initial; border-left-style: none; border-right-style: none; border-top-style: none; border-width: initial; cursor: pointer; line-height: 21px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; outline-color: initial; outline-style: none; outline-width: initial; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Both Scholarship and Exhibition places are still available</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"> for the College’s first cohort, and as the admission process is independent of UCAS, applications can be made until August 2012. </span></span></blockquote>
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">is about right, but they haven't made the reference to future job prospects that we older hands would consider pretty much obligatory. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span></span><br />
<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">The other thing they seem to have gotten wrong is the timing. With A-level results not out until August, there isn't much point getting your story in the press now. Of course NCH isn't tied to the UCAS timetable, but in practice the young Home/EU school leavers it is seeking to recruit will mostly also be in UCAS so it is highly unlikely that there are significant numbers of them who have not yet gotten around to making University applications. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Given that the target was 200 students, just </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">355 applications and </span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: inherit; line-height: 21px;">91 offers must be considered disappointing. Applicants to NCH will almost certainly have made applications through UCAS too, so you would be expecting many of them also to be holding offers from better-established institutions. Nothing prevents them accepting both the NCH and the UCAS offer if they wish to do so. Given that NCH is so much more expensive than existing institutions, and that student loans are not even available to defer that cost, I would expect most students holding two offers to prefer to go to a public institution if they get the grades. The NCH offer will in effect be an additional Insurance place (where it is even accepted) and practice at my own institution is essentially to assume that approximately none of our Insurance accepts will actually turn up. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">So when the C<span style="font-family: inherit;">ollege says it is '</span></span></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">on track to deliver one of the best student-staff ratios in UK higher education.' I'd have to say this looks like (a) masterly understatement and (b) not the best news the project's financial backers have ever heard. The only hope for 2012 entry must now be the ABBs in Clearing. There is a distinct possibility that there will be applicants who just miss the AAB+ threshold in popular subjects (such as the arts, for instance) will find few doors still open to them at Clearing except at much less prestigious institutions which they may be too proud to attend. Middle-ranking universities may have already filled most of their sub-AAB places, and be holding what few they have left to fill less popular courses such as the sciences and engineering, which NCH does not teach. NCH will not technically be in the Clearing process, but I expect it will be a busy time for their admissions staff nonetheless. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 21px;">NCH has taken a decision to recruit full and part-time staff against anticipated student numbers rather than hire hourly-paid staff nearer the time. It will therefore be very difficult to match the student numbers recruited onto individual courses in Clearing to the staff numbers already recruited to do the teaching. I have no idea how deep the pockets backing NCH are, but it certainly looks to me as if they will be burning cash until October 2013 at the very least.</span></span>Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-57027793506573053032012-04-19T11:18:00.000+01:002012-04-24T09:05:18.702+01:00The College of Law: misunderstandings continue<br />
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The College of Law put out a press <a href="http://www.college-of-law.co.uk/About-the-College/Media-Centre/News-2012/17-April-2012--Governors-of-The-College-of-Law-announce-conclusion-of-Strategic-Review/" style="color: #3ea9dd; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" target="_blank">release</a> on 17 April to announce the expected conclusion of the sale of their legal education business to the private equity firm Montagu. The sale of a private HE provider with degree awarding powers isn’t unprecedented, but it is unusual enough to have made the news. Unfortunately, the news reports have got some significant aspects of the story wrong because they don’t understand how degree awarding powers are regulated, and the College’s press materials on the issue were unhelpfully worded.</div>
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<em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">BBC </em><a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-17743981" style="color: #3ea9dd; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" target="_blank">say</a> that Montagu has brought ‘a UK college with its own degree-awarding powers’. <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">Times Higher Education</em> has an even more explosive <a href="http://www.timeshighereducation.co.uk/story.asp?sectioncode=26&storycode=419667" style="color: #3ea9dd; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" target="_blank">story</a>, suggesting that the private equity firm will gain the degree awarding powers directly: ‘Montagu will hold the degree awarding powers and run the college as a for-profit entity.’ <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Guardian</em> uses vaguer <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2012/apr/17/college-law-sale-private-equity" style="color: #3ea9dd; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" target="_blank">language</a>, saying that the sale ‘includes contractual commitments with law firms, as well as the College of Law brand and all its accreditations.’ So of the three, it is only <em style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">The Guardian</em> that manages not to get the story explicitly wrong.</div>
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There is no way that the College of Law can sell or transfer its degree awarding powers to anyone. This is impossible under English law. Degree awarding powers are granted by the Privy Council and cannot be transferred, exchanged or sold. When I saw the news yesterday (18 April) I spoke to colleagues at BIS and QAA to confirm my understanding, and I am glad to say that when I then spoke to the College of Law they removed the confusing phrase ‘our degree awarding powers will transfer with the sale’ from the <a href="http://www.college-of-law.co.uk/About-the-College/College-of-Law-change-of-ownership---FAQs/" style="color: #3ea9dd; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" target="_blank">FAQ</a> on their press release, although you can still hear Nigel Savage, the College’s CEO, make essentially the same claim ‘our degree awarding powers will seamlessly transfer’ about 1 minute thirty seconds into this interview on the College’s <a href="http://www.college-of-law.co.uk/About-the-College/Interview-with-Nigel-Savage,-CEO-of-The-College-of-Law" style="color: #3ea9dd; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" target="_blank">site</a>.</div>
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As the College has withdrawn the statement in their FAQ, there doesn’t seem to be any clear current statement about what they expect to happen to the degree awarding powers. This is unfortunate. It would have been helpful if the College had put up new material to clarify what they meant by their FAQ, and I hope they will do this soon. Their current students deserve reassurance about what will happen to the degree awarding powers, and those of us in the rest of the sector also have an obvious interest. As a charity with a Royal Charter, the current College of Law is constitutionally similar to many existing public-sector universities (mostly pre-92s) so the outcome of this sale has direct implications for them, their staff and their students too.</div>
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This post originally appeared at <a href="http://www.wonkhe.com/2012/04/19/the-college-of-law-misunderstandings-continue/">WonkHE</a>.</div>
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What I didn't ask Mark to put on WonkHE, because it is pure and baseless speculation, is my view of what the College and Montagu may actually plan. </div>
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The College earned its degree awarding powers in <a href="http://www.college-of-law.co.uk/About-the-College/College-history/">2006</a>. As a 'private provider', it will be due for renewal this year, 2012. Instead of the Secretary of State making the normal recommendation for renewal (see para 78 <a href="http://www.qaa.ac.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/Supplementary-notes-DAP.pdf">here</a>) the powers can be allowed to lapse. A new application can then be made for the company to have degree awarding powers. Although the <a href="http://www.bis.gov.uk/assets/biscore/higher-education/docs/a/11-781-applications-for-degree-awarding-powers-guidance">normal expectation</a> is that applicants for degree awarding powers shall 'have had no fewer than four consecutive years' experience, immediately preceding the year of application, of delivering higher education programmes at a level at least equivalent to Level H of the Framework for Higher Education Qualifications' that crucial word 'normally' could allow the Privy Council to consider that the ongoing education business has this experience, even though the brand new private company formed around it clearly does not. There need be no risk to Montagu since the existing College will form the company and apply for the DAPs for it, and the sale of the company can be made conditional on successful award of these new DAPs.</div>Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1208076283830432780.post-30188655194872838592012-04-18T17:15:00.001+01:002012-04-24T09:04:24.941+01:00The College of Law: Sale Agreed<span style="font-family: inherit;">The sale of the <a href="http://andrewmcgettigan.org/2012/04/17/college-of-law-sale-confirmed/">College of Law</a> has been agreed. As <a href="http://heplanningblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/latest-on-college-of-law.html">predicted</a>, the education business is to be spun out into a new company, and the existing charitable institution will continue to exist (helpfully changing its name to avoid potential confusion). I had previously doubted the reports that the private company was to control the degree awarding powers of the College, but the College's press statement has a bare statement that '<span style="background-color: white;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"><a href="http://www.college-of-law.co.uk/About-the-College/College-of-Law-change-of-ownership---FAQs/">our degree awarding powers will transfer with the sale</a>'. This simply cannot be true. I have spoken to both QAA and BIS today to confirm this, and whilst there were obviously limitations about what they could say to me about an active commercial negotiation, they confirmed that there is no legal mechanism by which the degree awarding powers can be transferred. It would be like Parliament transferring its law-making powers to Tesco.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white;">I have spoken to the College's PR to ask them what this statement on their website (which was repeated by Nigel Savage in an interview <a href="http://www.college-of-law.co.uk/About-the-College/Interview-with-Nigel-Savage,-CEO-of-The-College-of-Law/">here</a>) is intended to mean, since it cannot literally be true. The PR lady naturally isn't a specialist in the ins and outs of Higher Education law. She explained that it was important to reassure current students, and that the </span><span style="background-color: white;">sale is conditional on the receipt of a number of regulatory consents, which are expected to be forthcoming over the coming months.</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">In my view it is not very reassuring for the College's current students that the reassurance they are being offered is, in fact, literally untrue. As aspiring lawyers they may perhaps be as pedantic as I am about points like this. The College have now been back in touch with me to confirm that the FAQ on their site is potentially misleading, and will be taken down (my link may no longer work by the time you read this). It will be interesting to see what replaces it.</span></span>Andrew Fisherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00834779230590337759noreply@blogger.com0