Don't be jack of all trades, become the master of one

The Higher Education Funding Council for England (Hefce) has unveiled its strategic plan for 2003-2008, giving a blueprint for the next five years of higher education in England and extending the UK government's policy of specialisation. The new plan promises extra funding for teaching excellence and collaboration with local business rewarding universities and colleges for playing to their strengths, rather than for excellence in research and widening participation as they are now. According to Sir Howard Newby, chief executive of Hefce, universities and colleges need to understand that not all of them can meet the full range of stakeholder and customer needs and that they need to work on the development of the areas in which they are strong so that the higher education sector as a whole can deliver all that is required of it.