Agenda item

Report of the Principal, Guildhall School of Music and Drama.

The Board received the Principal’s public report and during the discussion, the following points were noted:

1)         The School’s low latency system, which had enabled 50 venues within the School to join together for teaching and performances, had won the Industry’s top 3 awards for the best performance venue, best educational project and  best entertainment event project.  Given that this is a predominantly male dominated industry, Governors were pleased to note that the design team had been 50% female and asked for their congratulations to the AV and IT Departments to go on record.   The Principal advised that the project had received a £350k investment, which had been 50% match funded by the City of London Corporation. 

2)         A summary of the exchanges in Parliament about future higher education policy, as included in this report for the first time,  would be helpful in future reports, noting that the Higher Education White Paper and  Free Speech Bill were still pending. 

3)         The Principal had contacted the City’s Remembrancer, in order to be kept updated on any parliamentary briefings. A Governor suggested that the Higher Education Policy Institute might have some insight. The Principal further advised that the School’s Leadership Team are working on strategies to mitigate any changes.

4)         Concern was expressed  about issues which could impact the school; i.e. –fee reduction, possible minimum entry levels for English and Maths (which might be a challenge for some students who excel creatively) and lowering the threshold of student loans.  A Governor suggested that financial planning should assume an £8500 fee at this stage

5)         There are two imminent changes in top higher education posts; i.e. - the Chief Executive of the Office for Students, and the Head of Research England. 

RESOLVED, that – the report be noted.