Strategically important and vulnerable subjects (SIVS)

All this work relies on a mixture of on-going research, evidence and monitoring.

Aims

Our work in this area aims to identify risks and intervene to address them.  New fee and funding arrangements for higher education (HE) came into effect from autumn 2012. In this environment, the choices of students, institutions or employers may create risks for some subjects.

So our work aims to protect against this kind of risk to the future availability of subjects. But it recognises that the new funding arrangements aim to create more dynamism and the potential for self-correction. This means we will only address risks very selectively. 

The changes from 2012 also mean that our general approach to subjects at risk has changed. Until now, we have held a single list of ‘strategically important and vulnerable’ subjects. We no longer do this. Instead we focus on risks to the future availability of any subject.

We consulted on our new approach to SIVS through evidence from key organisations and through our Teaching Funding consultation.  Our approach was approved by the HEFCE Board in July 2012. 

Activity

We have already sought – or planned – to address specific risks to subjects. We will continue to support: science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), modern foreign languages, and quantitative social science. All of these subjects we supported through our previous work in this area.

Our support so far includes:

• Additional funds for the teaching of high-cost STEM subjects, including an additional allocation for the highest cost STEM subjects. We recognise that certain subjects are more expensive to fund and this supplement will increase the overall level of funding for STEM teaching from 2012-13. 
• We have also protected places in chemistry, engineering, maths, physics and modern foreign languages in the way we allocate student places to universities and colleges. We have also required institutions to sustain teaching and study in these subjects at these levels.
• Further funding for demand-raising activity in modern foreign languages, currently provided by the Routes into Languages programme.
• A tuition fee supplement for students engaging in a year of study or work abroad through the ERASMUS exchange programme, or study abroad through another route, from 2014-15. This supplement will compensate institutions for costs involved in participating in exchange programmes.
• Continued support for the quantitative methods programme, which seeks to enhance demand for, and provision of, quantitative studies across the social sciences.
• Additional funding for postgraduate taught and postgraduate research programmes. 
• Funding to support sigma, the national maths and statistics support network.

We will maintain on our web-site an up-to-date list of interventions that we are making to address subject risks. 

Monitoring and progress

We base decisions to support subjects at risk on evidence, which we gather and develop regularly. This evidence, in part, comes from annual monitoring of:

• Data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency
• Data from the Destination of Leavers from Higher Education survey
• UCAS application rates
• A-level subjects studied
• GCSE subjects studied

In addition to quantitative data, we also gather information from institutions, other sector partners and those with a stake in the HE sector.

Using these sources of information we will, in the coming years, analyse and monitor the impact of the new funding and fee changes. Where necessary, we will make collaborative interventions to address risks to a particular subject.

We will publish an annual report which draws together the available information on the future availability of subjects.

Our SIVS Advisory Group oversees our work in this area.