Universities will take on the government by refusing to recruit more students unless they get the money to do so.
University leaders have warned ministers that their 50 per cent participation target for 2010 will be missed unless they cough up the money to attract and retain more students.
Roderick Floud, president of Universities UK, said: "If the government does not provide funding, the service will have to be cut.
"We have delivered what has been asked of us and we are willing to deliver more if we get proper funding. But it is in no-one's interest to have a substandard higher education service."
Professor Floud, provost of London Guildhall University, spoke on behalf of vice-chancellors angered by last week's announcement of next year's grants for teaching and research. Real-terms funding has been cut for a number of universities.
Professor Floud added that the overall pot of cash was too small and that there was a deliberate attempt to use the funding mechanism to restructure the sector.
He said: "The British university system is based on a strong alliance between teaching and research. If that alliance is to be broken, then it should be done by public debate explicitly and not by the funding mechanism (which is) what is happening."
Higher education minister Margaret Hodge backs university alliances and mergers on the grounds that the system lacks diversity. She has said that institutions should not try to do everything but concentrate on what they do best.
The Higher Education Funding Council for England is aiding diversification by cutting funding from weaker research departments, which are concentrated in post-1992 universities. At the same time it is increasing the cash for recruiting students from poor areas, which is something that new universities excel at.
UUK has been invited by the funding council to discuss the methods of funding teaching and research. Vice-chancellors will argue for a mechanism that avoids sharp annual changes such as those that will leave many institutions out of pocket next year.
* Medical and laboratory-based subjects lost out badly in the funding allocations announced last week, writes Alison Goddard .
Some departments that got the top 5* grade in the research assessment exercise will still see cuts, despite the funding council's promise to maintain the average unit of funding in real terms.
Top-rated research in clinical laboratory sciences, for example, has been slashed by more than 20 per cent. Grade 5 was cut by 33 per cent rather than the predicted 15 per cent, grade 4 by 50 per cent rather than the predicted 30 per cent and 3a by 75 per cent.
It means that universities will receive far more per researcher working on 5-rated nursing than they do for each researcher working on clinical laboratory science.
Hospital-based clinical subjects, clinical dentistry and biological sciences face far more swingeing cuts than had been expected. The cuts come because many institutions did well in these units of assessment.
The funding council simultaneously lowered the weighting given to high-cost laboratory and clinical research. In the past, such research has received 1.7 times the amount going to cheaper research in areas such as the arts. That premium has been reduced to 1.6 times.
At the other end of the scale, business, history, music and education have seen big increases.
* The head of the English funding council has promised to look again at the funding of nursing research after the comprehensive spending review in July, writes Claire Sanders .
Speaking at a conference on future directions in health care, Sir Howard Newby, chief executive of Hefce, said he was "personally committed" to supporting nursing research.
Nursing academics have been badly hit. Despite substantially improving their scores in the 2001 research assessment exercise, those with a 3b rating will receive no funding and those with a 3a limited funding.
According to the Council of Deans of Nursing this means that of the 42 nursing departments that submitted to the RAE, only 22 will receive any funding from the council in 2002-03, and only ten have any prospect of long-term funding.
Unit of assessment
Funding per researcher in £
Percentage change
3a
4
5
5*
3a
4
5
5*
Clinical Laboratory Sciences
3,146
10,314
19,493
,919
-75.8
-47.1
-33.4
-20.5
Community-based Clinical Subjects
3,438
11,3
21,306
30,516
-70.8
-36.1
-19.4
-3.9
Hospital-based Clinical Subjects
3,186
10,446
19,742
28,6
-75.4
-46.2
-32.2
-19.1
Clinical Dentistry
/
12,067
22,806
32,664
n/a
-39.8
-24.1
-9.4
Pre-Clinical Studies
/
/
19,920
28,531
n/a
n/a
-40.1
n/a
Anatomy
/
11,284
21,3
30,546
n/a
n/a
-1.3
17.8
Physiology
4,564
14,964
28,282
40,507
-61.1
-15.1
7.0
.7
Pharmacology
3,763
12,337
23,316
33,395
-64.9
-23.3
-3.4
15.3
Pharmacy
3,952
12,956
24,487
35,073
-66.7
-.2
-8.2
9.5
Nursing
5,709
18,719
35,380
/
-55.8
-3.5
21.6
n/a
Other Studies and Professions Allied to Medicine
5,762
18,892
35,707
51,142
-64.6
-22.6
-2.5
16.4
Psychology
3,243
10,631
20,093
28,779
-69.8
-34.0
-16.8
-0.6
Biological Sciences
3,652
11,974
22,631
32,414
-71.9
-38.5
-22.5
-7.5
Agriculture
5,598
18,355
34,690
/
-59.2
-10.8
12.4
n/a
Food Science and Technology
3,731
/
23,121
33,116
n/a
n/a
n/a
-4.4
Veterinary Science
/
/
22,804
/
n/a
n/a
n/a
n/a
Chemistry
3,850
12,624
23,860
34,174
-69.9
-34.1
-17.0
-0.9
Physics
3,584
11,750
22,207
31,806
-69.0
-32.3
-14.8
1.9
Earth Sciences
3,808
12,486
23,598
33,799
-70.5
-35.5
-18.7
-2.9
Environmental Sciences
/
12,794
24,182
34,635
n/a
-33.8
-16.5
-0.4
Pure Mathematics
3,001
9,840
18,598
26,637
-65.9
-25.5
-6.0
12.2
Applied Mathematics
3,806
12,477
23,582
33,776
-69.3
-32.9
-15.4
1.2
Statistics and Operational Research
4,373
14,338
,098
38,812
-71.4
-37.4
-21.2
-5.7
Computer Science
4,624
15,159
28,651
41,036
-64.9
-23.4
-3.4
15.3
General Engineering
3,834
12,570
23,757
34,026
-70.0
-34.4
-17.3
-1.3
Chemical Engineering
3,602
11,811
22,323
31,973
-70.3
-35.2
-18.3
-2.5
Civil Engineering
3,767
12,349
23,340
33,429
-71.7
-38.2
-22.1
-7.0
Electrical and Electronic Engineering
3,901
12,789
24,171
34,620
-70.6
-35.8
-19.1
-3.5
Mechanical, Aeronautical and
Manufacturing Engineering
3,773
12,370
23,379
33,485
-70.8
-36.1
-19.5
-3.9
Mineral and Mining Engineering
/
10,136
/
,439
n/a
-46.8
n/a
n/a
Metallurgy and Materials
3,729
12,226
23,108
33,097
-67.8
-29.7
-11.5
5.7
Built Environment
4,186
13,724
25,938
37,150
-57.8
-7.7
16.2
38.7
Town and Country Planning
4,710
15,443
29,188
41,805
-66.0
-25.7
-6.4
11.8
Geography
3,788
12,419
23,471
33,617
-63.5
-20.1
0.6
20.1
Law
2,166
7,102
13,423
19,226
-71.2
-37.1
-20.8
-5.3
Anthropology
2,283
7,485
14,147
20,263
-66.8
-.3
-8.5
9.2
Economics and Econometrics
2,656
8,708
16,458
23,573
-61.2
-15.2
6.8
.6
Politics and International Studies
2,855
9,361
17,692
25,340
-66.8
-.4
-8.5
9.3
Social Policy and Administration
3,365
11,033
20,852
29,866
-62.6
-18.3
2.9
22.8
Social Work
3,496
11,463
21,666
31,031
-63.2
-19.5
1.4
n/a
Sociology
2,695
8,836
16,700
23,919
-69.7
-33.8
-16.5
-0.5
Business and Management Studies
3,041
9,971
18,846
26,993
-65.1
-23.8
-3.9
14.7
Accounting and Finance
1,996
/
12,367
17,713
-72.0
n/a
-23.0
-8.1
American Studies
2,724
8,930
16,878
24,174
-63.5
-20.2
0.5
19.9
Middle Eastern and African Studies
2,559
8,390
15,857
22,712
-64.4
-22.2
-1.8
17.1
Asian Studies
2,196
7,201
13,609
19,492
-70.8
-36.2
-19.7
-3.7
European Studies
2,765
9,065
17,133
24,539
-68.7
-31.5
-13.7
3.0
Celtic Studies
2,294
/
14,216
20,361
n/a
n/a
-43.1
n/a
English Language and Literature
2,291
7,512
14,198
20,335
-71.3
-37.3
-21.0
-5.5
French
2,434
7,982
15,086
21,607
-65.9
-25.4
-6.0
12.3
German, Dutch and Scandinavian Languages
2,248
7,369
13,928
19,949
-69.8
-33.9
-16.7
-0.4
Italian
2,166
7,100
13,419
19,220
-69.8
-33.9
-16.7
-0.6
Russian, Slavonic and East European Languages
/
7,108
13,435
19,243
n/a
-37.7
-21.4
-6.2
Iberian and Latin American Languages
2,350
7,703
14,560
20,853
-67.3
-28.4
-9.8
7.7
Linguistics
2,610
8,556
16,171
23,161
-69.8
-33.9
-16.7
n/a
Classics, Ancient History, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies
2,089
6,850
12,947
18,543
-66.7
-.1
-8.2
9.9
Archaeology
3,207
10,515
19,874
28,464
-61.6
-16.0
5.8
26.3
History
2,577
8,449
15,969
22,872
-62.7
-18.5
2.7
22.9
History of Art, Architecture and Design
3,100
10,163
19,207
,510
-62.8
-18.7
2.5
22.3
Library and Information Management
2,605
8,542
16,144
23,122
-71.7
-38.1
-22.1
-7.0
Philosophy
2,306
7,560
14,288
20,465
-70.8
-36.3
-19.6
-3.9
Theology, Divinity and Religious Studies
2,510
8,229
15,552
22,5
-63.0
-19.1
2.2
21.7
Art and Design
5,259
17,241
32,586
/
-62.7
-18.4
2.8
n/a
Communication, Cultural and Media Studies
4,028
13,208
24,963
35,753
-59.9
-12.2
10.6
n/a
Drama, Dance and the Performing Arts
4,650
15,246
28,815
41,1
-61.9
-16.7
4.9
25.3
Music
3,532
11,580
21,886
31,347
-61.6
-16.0
6.0
26.5
Education
3,364
11,028
20,843
29,852
-60.8
-14.3
8.0
28.9
Sports-related subjects
3,777
12,383
23,403
33,520
-67.2
-28.3
-9.7
n/a
Average
3,711
11,788
21,061
29,261
-67.2
-29.2
-12.3
2.5
Source : HEFCE