Browne Review

Every school will be required to make individualised careers advice available to its pupils. The advice will be delivered by certified professionals who are well informed, benefit from continued training and professional development and whose status in schools is respected and valued. Similar careers advice will be available to older people as well.

There will be a single online portal for applications for university entry and student finance. We envisage that this portal will be run by UCAS. UCAS will work with institutions to gather more information about courses so that it is available to students when they are applying for university entry.

Institutions and students will work together to produce Student Charters that provide detailed information about specific courses and include commitments made by students to the academic community they are joining. Institutions that have higher charges will be expected to make stronger commitments to their students.

Institutions will no longer be required to provide a minimum bursary to all students receiving the full grant from Government for living costs. They will have the freedom to focus on activities that may be more effective in improving access.

The higher education system will expand to accommodate demand from qualified applicants who have the potential to succeed.

Entitlement to Student Finance will be determined by a minimum entry standard, based on aptitude. This will ensure that the system is responding to demand from those who are qualified to benefit from higher education. All students who meet the standard will have an entitlement to Student Finance and can take that entitlement to any institution that decides to offer them a place. Institutions will face no restrictions from the Government on how many students they can admit. This will allow relevant institutions to grow; and others will need to raise their game to respond.

The student finance plan will be simplified. The elements of the plan are: SF Learning – paying the costs of learning upfront on behalf of the student; SF Living – providing students with money for living costs; SF Paying – collecting payments from graduates, via the tax system, and managing their remaining payments; SF Giving – providing an easy way for graduates to make voluntary tax deductible payments to their chosen institution.

Full time students will pay no fees upfront. Government will provide the upfront costs. The same upfront support for the costs of learning will be extended to part time students.

Institutions will contribute to meeting the costs of finance for learning. They will receive from Government all of the money for charges of up to £6,000; and pay a levy on the income from charges above that amount to cover the costs to Government of providing students with the upfront finance.

The loan system for the costs of living will be simplified to create one flat rate entitlement of £3,750. This means anyone applying for a loan knows exactly how much funding they are eligible for and if they are only applying for loans then no means test is necessary.

The maximum grant for the costs of living available to students from low income backgrounds on top of the loan will increase to £3,250. The full grant will be available up to a household income of £25,000 and a partial grant up to a household income of £60,000. All students will receive at least as much cash in hand as they do now (total of grant and maintenance loan).

Institutions will not be required to provide a minimum bursary and that cash in hand for students will come through the grant for the costs of living instead. Making the minimum bursary part of the Government package of support will mean that students receive all of their minimum support for living costs from one place and on the basis of a single application.

Students with higher earnings after graduation will pay a real interest rate on the outstanding balance for the costs of learning and living. The interest rate will be equal to the Government's cost of borrowing (inflation plus 2.2%). Students earning below the repayment threshold will pay no real interest rate. Their loan balance will increase only in line with inflation. Those earning above the threshold whose payments do not cover the costs of the real interest will have the rest of the interest rebated to them by Government.

The repayment threshold will be reviewed regularly and increased in line with average earnings. As the threshold has not been increased since 2005, there will be a one-off increase at the start of our new system from £15,000 to £21,000.

The higher education system is currently overseen by four bodies: HEFCE, QAA, OFFA and the OIA. These will be replaced by a single Higher Education (HE) Council. It will take a more targeted approach to regulation, with greater autonomy for institutions.

Students on all courses, irrespective of the status of their institution, will be able to access the Student Finance Plan. All institutions which want to offer provision that is funded through the Student Finance Plan will be under the same conditions: they will make an Access Commitment, satisfy baseline requirements around quality and information, and pay a levy on charges above £6,000.

The HE Council will require the governing bodies of institutions to certify each year that the institution is a viable going concern. The Council will have powers to provide targeted funding to prevent institutional failure from taking place. It will also make recommendations to the governing body of an institution where it views that management is ineffective.

If institutional failure cannot be prevented in a way that is cost effective for public investment or in the best interests of students and staff, then the Council will explore options such as mergers or takeovers led by other providers so that the institution in a new form becomes a going concern.

The HE Council will take on the role of adjudicating on complaints which students have been unable to resolve through institutional routes. Bringing the regulatory and complaints functions together will enable regulation to be adapted in light of decisions about complaints where appropriate.

The HE Council will explain how it is investing taxpayers' money, and safeguarding students' investment in higher education, through an annual report to Parliament. It will provide targeted public investment for clinical training programmes and other priority programmes. It will define minimum levels of quality for these programmes.

The Quality Assurance Agency currently reports on institutions' processes for managing quality and standards and provides guidance on good practice. These activities should continue through the work of the HE Council.

It will be a condition of receipt of income from the Student Finance Plan for the costs of learning that institutions require all new academics with teaching responsibilities to undertake a teaching training qualification accredited by the HE Academy, and that the option to gain such a qualification is made available to all staff – including researchers and postgraduate students – with teaching responsibilities.

There will be a new Access and Success fund to support institutions in recruiting and retaining those students who need additional support due to the effects of a disadvantaged background.

To improve the accountability of institutions for achieving fair access, WPSAs and Access Agreements will be replaced with a single Access Commitment, to be agreed between institutions and the HE Council, and updated annually, as a condition for institutions to receive the costs of learning through the Student Finance Plan. The scrutiny of Access Commitments by the HE Council will be tougher for institutions with higher charges.

No minimum spend will be required from institutions that meet their targets on access and completion. Institutions that do not meet their targets will have to agree with the HE Council a minimum level of spend that will be used to improve performance.

The Council will carry out an annual survey of charges, allowing easy comparison for students between the charges set by institutions and the success of institutions in providing value for money.

New providers will be able to apply for targeted HE Council investment if they offer priority programmes – and they will be subject to the same quality requirements as any other provider.