‘Prioritise professional subjects in Covid-19 recovery’, says poll

Universities should prioritise training doctors, nurses and other professionally qualified graduates in the aftermath of Covid-19, according to a new poll of public attitudes.

In a survey of 1,003 UK adults conducted by Public First for the University Alliance, which represents universities focused on technical or professional education, some 62 per cent of respondents say it is “very important” for universities to focus on applied subjects that led to professionally qualified graduates, such as doctors, nurses, social workers, accountants or engineers.

This contrasts with 50 per cent for STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) subjects, 24 per cent for social sciences, 13 per cent for languages and 12 per cent for the arts, according to the poll published on 10 June.

When asked how frontline NHS workers should be trained, 61 per cent said they believed nurses and other medical professionals should be educated at university and that more funding should be made available to ramp up the number of places.

Some 56 per cent also say universities have been very or quite important in supporting the NHS. Just 8 per cent disagreed.

More than seven in 10 people think that universities are going to play an important role in supporting the UK’s economic and social recovery post-Covid, according to the survey.

Debra Humphris, chair of University Alliance, vice-chancellor of the University of Brighton and a former nurse, said it was “gratifying that the role of universities in both the battle with Covid-19 and the national effort to rebuild in its aftermath is being recognised by the public”.

“Our universities sit on the very nexus of higher education, industry and the public sector,” said Professor Humphris, who added that they will be “essential to the national economic, social and cultural recovery effort in the months and years ahead”.

Asked about the role of universities in supporting the NHS during the crisis, 71 per cent of respondents identified their contribution to research around a vaccine, while 56 per cent cited universities’ sharing of laboratories and other facilities and 55 per cent highlighted the accelerated training of nurses and other medical professionals.

“Alliance universities work closely with the NHS and social care sectors on a day-to-day basis, and guarantee the supply of nurses, midwives, doctors and other health and social care professionals,” said Professor Humphris. “These links have never been stronger or more important than during the coronavirus crisis,” she added.

 jack.grove@timeshigheducation.com