An investigation into the impact of the 2012 English higher education funding reforms on student engagement in higher education policymaking

The English higher education funding system changed drastically in 2012, when the cap on undergraduate student places was removed, and the tuition fee limit was extended to £9,000 (Bolton, 2021). 10 years since the policy was implemented, the proposed research will interrogate if and how the shift in fee liability from the state to individual students has altered students' ability and willingness to engage in the policy process. The study will examine public participation, specifically that of students and their advocates, over the decade to investigate how students have individually and collectively influenced higher education policy processes.

The study will apply Sabatier and Jenkin-Smith's (1980) advocacy coalition framework (ACF) to rationalise the complexity of policy evolution. The framework outlines that 10 years of development is required to comprehensively analyse the policy process. The ACF focuses on the role of competing actors, resources and networks to achieve policy change (Cairney, 2020). A key feature of the ACF is identifying when and how actors create change to belief systems during the policy process (Sabatier and Weible, 2007). The research will seek to identify changes in higher education policy that were driven by students or advocacy coalitions, made up of supportive actors.

The research will focus on how higher education policy has been informed by bottom-up innovation, that is led by, or engages, students (Hartley, 2014). The study will explore if systematic public engagement has occurred by analysing the use of participatory-deliberative processes such as participatory research; citizen engagement in the generation of ideas or decision making; and public consultations.

The main research question will investigate the question How has the 2012 English higher education funding reform impacted student engagement in higher education policymaking? is underpinned by two areas of investigation:
What participatory-deliberative processes have been employed to enable students to participate in policymaking since 2012?
What mechanism have been available to students to contribute to public consultations on English higher education policy since 2012?
The study will explore formal records of student participation in the policy process and will gather new qualitative data on covert engagement in the policy process together with evidence of occasions where actors were shut out from participating.