Can the implementation be delayed or deferred to give us more time to plan?
The Department for Innovation Universities and Skills asked us to achieve two aims – to withdraw funding from students studying ELQs, and to secure savings of £100 million by 2010-11 for redistribution to students considered higher public priority (those, for example, entering higher education for the first time). Our proposals for implementation address both aims. If we were to delay implementation, we could not make the savings requested without removing some of the exemptions to the policy that we are currently proposing. Although the policy will be implemented in 2008-09, our plans for implementation are designed to give institutions a chance to adapt to this change in the funding regime. The transitional funding for ELQ students already in the system will ensure that the impact of the policy is phased – significant savings at the sector level will not be made until 2009-10. In addition, our safety net funding will ensure that no institution will lose funding, in cash terms, as a d
