An essential part of our role as representatives of all 15,000 students at Imperial College London is to respond to consultations, research and surveys on a national scale. Recently the IPPR (Institute for Public Policy Research) was commisioned to look into 'The Future of Higher Education in England'. The research hopes to answer the following questions:

• What is the purpose of higher education in the 21st century?
• What mix of higher education institutions do we want to serve a diverse, expanding student population?
• What role can higher education play in promoting sustainable economic growth and a rebalanced economy across England?
• To what extent should the overall structure of the sector be determined by market forces or to what extent should government play a strategic role?
• If investment in world-class research and teaching is to keep pace with the best in the world in an age of austerity, how can we pay for it?
• If universities are public institutions, how should they be governed?
• What should be the relationship between higher education and other forms of tertiary education?

We have published our response to this commision, available here.