There is a sense at home and abroad that the UK is going in the wrong direction. Public services are struggling, various sectors – including universities – are prone to strikes amid the worst industrial relations for nearly half a century, and political turmoil has led people to question whether society is quite as stable as we previously hoped. In the aftermath of the COVID19 pandemic, progress seems uncertain. The pressing need to tackle global challenges, like climate change and war in Europe, also means the current malaise feels somehow different to what has come before.
Whether the problems are temporary or systemic, the answers to them must lie – in part – in UK universities, which are not only educating the next generation of employees but also pushing at the boundaries of knowledge on how to better the world. So with the caveat that our polling was conducted in August 2022, it is pleasing to see the high levels of support for UK higher education institutions in the second wave of the UPP Foundation / HEPI Public Attitudes to Higher Education Survey, which has been overseen by Public First. In particular, it is notable that support for universities among voters in England runs higher than support for universities among voters in the United States.
However, there remains, as in 2021, some areas of concern where public perceptions are either moving in the wrong direction or continue to be problematic. Fewer people think universities are important to the UK economy than last year; and one-in-five people think ‘a university degree is a waste of time’. We also find that 57% of the public say that freedom of speech at English universities is under threat.
