Annual Report 2008
Foreword from the Vice-Chancellor
The academic year 2007–08 began with a particular edge of excitement, with the University’s 800th Anniversary only a year away and the 800th Anniversary Campaign, launched in 2005, gathering momentum. The 800th Campaign had another record year keeping it on track to reach its ambitious £1 billion target: some £138 million was raised by the University and Colleges in the fiscal year 2007–08, bringing the Campaign total to £801 million. The past 12 months have witnessed an outstanding contribution to the Campaign by the Colleges, including an exceptional benefaction that has enabled New Hall to be properly endowed and re-founded as Murray Edwards College. The £30 million gift from Dr Ros Smith and Steve Edwards, Cambridge-based entrepreneurs, has fulfilled the dream of the College’s visionary founder, the late Dame Rosemary Murray. Members of the academic community focused their efforts on final submissions for the Research Assessment Exercise. The mountainous documentation collated for the RAE and under peer review by foremost academicians in the land is proof positive of Cambridge’s exceptional research productivity. In this report, it is possible only to give a flavour of the research undertakings and achievements of the University over the last academic year. By year’s end, a new and pressing challenge was increasingly evident, with financial markets in growing turmoil and the economy losing steam. Cambridge is by no means immune to the present difficulties, but I am confident that we will emerge, not unscathed, but whole and competitive. I know we have the institutional capacity to do so: sound management systems, financial discipline, prudence, and a measure of stubbornness.
As we reflect on the past year, we also look forward twelve months when we will celebrate 800 years of people, discoveries and ideas that transform the world. The turn of another century in the life of the University encourages me to wonder how the scholars of Cambridge will influence the next 100 years. This report begins with highlights of just a few of the discoveries and innovations that have taken place during 2007–08, then presents the formal reports of the work of the University Council and the General Board and ends with the Financial Statements. Whether you read it from cover to cover or dip into it, I hope you will find its glimpses of life and times here during the past year both interesting and enjoyable.
Alison Richard Vice-Chancellor
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Teaching Innovations in teaching across the disciplines continue to pay dividends.
The Department of Engineering is celebrating the successful completion of a project to update practical teaching in the department following a year-long collaboration with the Teaching for Learning Network. New integrated coursework gives students the chance to work on openended assignments in a variety of engineering disciplines, testing the theory taught in lectures and developing the hands-on skills needed by professional engineers. This new approach gives undergraduate students exposure to a wide range of engineering disciplines, often with a crossdisciplinary nature. The Institute of Biotechnology has been recognised for its unique combination of innovative multi-disciplinary research, education and entrepreneurialism with The Queen’s Anniversary Prize for Higher and Further Education. From modest beginnings in 1988, with a recurrent grant of £50,000, it now has an annual turnover of £3.5 million. In August, the Institute merged with the Department of Chemical Engineering to form a single Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, enabling the new organisation to build on its strengths and increase cross-disciplinary research to address emerging global challenges. A professional development programme for Principal Investigators – the first of its kind in the UK – has been launched at the University. The programme includes workshops and briefing sessions, covering topics such as updated grant application procedures, portfolio management, leadership and employment issues. An important new centre has been established this year that will enable the University to build on its contributions to research and teaching in Islamic Studies. The new centre is one of two in the UK funded by generous gifts from
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His Royal Highness Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, Chairman of the Alwaleed Bin Talal Foundation. The Cambridge-based HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies will undertake research programmes on Islam in the UK and Europe, and Islam and the media, as well as running public programmes including lectures, conferences and summer schools. A new course launched by the Faculty of Divinity aims to train church leaders to resolve internal disputes and manage conflict. Run by the Psychology and Religion Research Group, the sessions will teach participants how to interact positively and constructively on issues of disagreement. It is hoped that the course can be rolled out further to train leaders across the faiths.
Cambridge University Veterinary Hospital has received the highest possible accreditation from the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons; the only other school accredited in all disciplines was the Royal Veterinary College. Trained nurses work alongside all veterinary students, allowing them to gain valuable hands-on experience.
Teaching
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Eleven of the University’s teachers were presented with Pilkington Prizes recognising their excellence in teaching: (on the ground from left) Dr Hugh Matthews, Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience; Dr Tim Wilkinson, Department of Engineering; Dr Gavin Alexander, Faculty of English; Dr Stuart Clarke, Department of Chemistry; (top of the stairs) Dr Angeles Carreres, Language Centre and CARET; Dr Marian Holness, Department of Earth Sciences; Dr Tim Lewens, Department of History and Philosophy of Science; Dr Stephen Hladky, Department of Pharmacology; Dr Patrick Barrie, Department of Chemical Engineering; Dr Diana Wood, School of Clinical Medicine; and Penny Coltman, Faculty of Education.
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Dr Gavin Alexander of Christ’s College is a University Lecturer in the Faculty of English who has brought the Renaissance period to life for a new generation of scholars by helping to develop an online course in English Handwriting from 1500–1700. The course has produced a digital archive, research tools and educational materials. As well as supporting the Faculty’s own teaching, the course is used by individuals and institutions around the world. Dr Patrick Barrie of Emmanuel College, a University Lecturer in the Department of Chemical Engineering, is also the Admissions Officer for his Department. He has been involved in promoting the undergraduate course in Chemical Engineering
to first-year Natural Scientists and Engineers, as well as to prospective applicants and their parents and teachers. He has more than doubled the Department’s intake in four years. Pilkington Prize winner Dr Diana Wood of St Edmund’s College is the School of Clinical Medicine’s first full-time Director of Medical Education. She has led a reform of the curriculum on the undergraduate clinical course and has overseen a complete restructuring of the Final MB examination, making it an exemplar of current undergraduate medical best educational practice. She has demonstrated strong educational leadership and remarkable commitment and has
made a major contribution to the undergraduate teaching of clinical medicine. Dr Angeles Carreres, a Bye-Fellow of Selwyn College and a Senior Spanish Language Teaching Officer, has enhanced language teaching within the Department of Spanish and Portuguese. As well as introducing inventive practices into her own classes, she has worked alongside colleagues in the Language Centre and CARET to develop original course materials and online resources. She has also made a valuable contribution to assessment practice, implementing systems to ensure accurate marking across a range of examiners.
The Pilkington Prizes were set up by the late Sir Alastair Pilkington, former Chairman of the Cambridge Foundation. The prizes are supported by Cambridge University Press, and are awarded annually by the ViceChancellor, Professor Alison Richard.
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Almost 500 educational assessment experts from 58 countries attended the 34th annual International Association for Educational Assessment Conference, which was hosted by Cambridge Assessment as part of its 150th anniversary celebrations. The six-day conference took place in September 2008 at Robinson College with an opening ceremony at West Road Concert Hall and a gala dinner at King’s College.
Cambridge Assessment celebrated its 150th anniversary as the UK’s most senior exam board. Set up in 1858 as the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (relaunched as Cambridge Assessment in 2005), the organisation has played a pioneering role in introducing public examinations for schools with the aim of raising standards in education. In the intervening years, it has evolved into a world leader in three areas – international examinations, UK examinations, and English examinations for speakers of other languages. In 2008, Cambridge Assessment sent out more than 20 million examination papers.
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A new course at the Institute of Criminology, designed to bridge a perceived gap between command-level police strategy and scientific studies into the causes and prevention of crime was attended by some of the world’s most senior police officers. The University’s Postgraduate Diploma in Notarial Practice won first prize in an international award for programming excellence; and an external research study scored Cambridge as the top allround training provider for teacher training courses. Factored into this research were the inspection ratings given by Ofsted, the qualifications of the
entrants, and the percentage of the trainees who actually go on to teach. A novel teaching initiative has been established for policy-makers, senior managers and chief executives of social economy, community, public or third sector organisations. The first Masters Programme in Social Enterprise and Community Development, co-ordinated by the Institute of Continuing Education and Judge Business School, has attracted students from the UK and overseas.
In collaboration with the International Programmes division at the Institute of Continuing Education, a new intensive course of English for Academic Purposes was launched. An online course to help the University’s overseas students improve their English is also now available from the Language Centre. English @ Your Fingertips enables learners to improve their spoken English, present papers more effectively and write academic papers.
Teaching
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Discovering Cambridge research has a huge impact on the lives of people across the world. The University and its partners continue to be at the forefront of innovation and discovery.
An exciting development has given fresh hope to sufferers of the debilitating neurological disease multiple sclerosis. Alemtuzumab, a drug developed in Cambridge and initially designed to treat a form of leukaemia, has now proved effective in combating multiple sclerosis. The study, led by Cambridge researchers, has found that Alemtuzumab not only stops the disease from advancing in patients with the early stage active relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, but may also restore lost function caused by the disease. A breakthrough in stem cell research appears to be on the horizon as researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Stem Cell Research have found a more efficient method of creating induced pluripotent stem cells. These cells can be turned into any human tissue and will be used initially for basic research, disease modelling and targeting.
Researchers have developed a new test for Chlamydia, one of the world’s most widespread sexual infections, which is cheaper, faster, and easier to use than those that currently exist. Using a unique Signal Amplification System, the test greatly improves the sensitivity of rapid testing. The swift result – which shows in a similar way to a marker line in a pregnancy test – allows infected individuals to undergo immediate counselling and treatment.
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Discovering
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Cambridge researchers working with mice found a new method for early detection of cancer. Using the naturally occurring chemical biocarbonate and a highly sensitive magnetic-resonance imaging technique, changes in body tissue caused by cancer can be detected at a very early stage. If clinical trials show that the technique is as safe and effective in cancer patients as researchers expect, the process promises to be a useful tool in the early detection of cancer. Scientists have also discovered why the cancer drug Paclitaxel, part of a family of drugs called taxanes, does not work in 50 per cent of the ovarian cancer patients treated with it. It has been found that loss of a protein called TGFBI causes the drug to fail. The findings offer hope for improved treatments, including the
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success rate of other taxane drugs used to treat lung and breast cancer. Cambridge scientists have also uncovered a new region in the genome that is responsible for the body’s ability to regulate low-density lipoprotein – the ‘bad’ cholesterol, linked to heart attacks and strokes. The research provides insights into why some individuals have higher levels of the cholesterol and may help to identify those who are particularly at risk of developing cholesterol problems. A Centre of Excellence at the Institute of Public Health is working with other organisations to improve the health of the population by changing
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is known to run in families. Cambridge researchers used cognitive and brain measures to determine whether there are biological markers of genetic risk for developing OCD. They discovered that individuals with OCD and their close family members have distinctive patterns in their brain structure. This is the first time that scientists have associated an anatomical trait with familial risk for this disorder.
diet and exercise behaviour. The new Centre for Public Health Research Excellence in Diet and Physical Activity has received £5 million in funding to provide the evidence-base for public health interventions. The Centre will build on existing research into diet and physical activity and the established links of these lifestyles factors to diseases such as heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis and type 2 diabetes and also on expertise in helping individuals change behaviour. Research from the Institute of Public Health has already identified four behaviours which can add 14 years’ life expectancy. Those who exercised regularly, ate five portions of fruit and vegetables a day, did not smoke and had moderate alcohol consumption lived an average of 14 years longer than those who adopted none of these behaviours.
The growing threat to public health posed by obesity, diabetes and related diseases is being addressed at the new Institute of Metabolic Science, which examines the biological basis of these disorders and will translate the resulting scientific insights into patient care. Situated on the Cambridge Biomedical Campus next to Addenbrooke’s Hospital, this £15 million facility is a joint initiative between the Medical Research Council and Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, made possible with generous support from the Wolfson Foundation, Atlantic Philanthropies and the Garfield Weston Foundation.
Discovering
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Taking research from the laboratory to the real-world is a huge challenge but two simple, non-invasive tools to measure brain function, went on show this year at the Royal Society’s Summer Science event. More than 20 million people across the globe are affected by neuro-degenerative disorders, which can be difficult to diagnose. The two new devices, currently being used by researchers from Cambridge’s Brain Repair Centre and Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience, both offer a swift, convenient and objective measure of the time it takes the brain to make a decision and will help in the diagnosis and treatment of neurological disorders. One uses tiny lasers to measure miniscule eye movements known as saccades, and the other detects impaired brain function by providing information about movements generated internally. The travel patterns of seasonal flu are now known. Outbreaks of the most common type of influenza virus, A (H3N2), are seeded by viruses that originate in East and Southeast Asia and migrate around the world. This discovery may help to further improve flu vaccines and make the evolution of the virus more predictable. Cambridge Enterprise, the University’s commercialisation company, helps to ensure that innovative research delivers real benefits to the world and finds the best commercial partner for inventions. Turnover for its second year of operation
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as a limited company was £9.5 million, an increase of 4.9 per cent on the previous year; spin-out activities created 944 new jobs in the region. In the past year, a licence has been agreed between Cambridge Enterprise and Canadian company ArcticDX for the development of a test to show if an individual is genetically predisposed to age-related macular degeneration – one of the most prevalent forms of blindness in Europe and the USA. Early diagnosis is crucial in the fight against this disease which is arrestable but not reversible. Cambridge Enterprise has also finalised a licence agreement with Mederex, Inc for the potential development of a therapeutic drug to treat cancer and autoimmune diseases such as Crohn’s disease, based on research from the Department of Pathology. Cambridge Enterprise Seed Funds, together with Cambridge Capital Group, have invested in a new product that is set to enhance the treatment of leg ulcers, a condition that affects more than 2 million EU citizens. Inotec AMD Ltd is developing the company’s first product Velox™ – the result of collaboration with the Department of Materials Science and Metallurgy.
The concept for a new stretchable and flexible mobile phone developed by the Department of Engineering and the Nokia Research Center (NRC) was unveiled in February.
Morph, a nanotechnology concept, was launched alongside the new Design and the Elastic Mind exhibition at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City. Morph is a concept that demonstrates how future mobile devices might be stretchable and flexible, allowing the user to transform their mobile device into different shapes. It demonstrates the functionality that nanotechnology might be capable of delivering: flexible materials, transparent electronics and self-cleaning surfaces. To coincide with World Usability Day, researchers in the Department’s Engineering Design Centre announced the Inclusive Design Toolkit. This new guide aims to show companies how their products could be improved to appeal to the widest possible range of people. The guide covers all stages of the design process and the toolkit has interactive features that simulate impairments. These features help companies to develop their products to be more inclusive.
Discovering
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Investing Investment in facilities underpins the University’s achievements: world-class facilities attract and support world-class teachers, researchers, students and results. The scale of investment necessary in the development of world-class facilities underlines the importance of continued philanthropic support for our future. 2008 saw the topping-out ceremony of a £4.7 million refurbishment and roof-top extension
The innovative work of the Department of Plant Sciences has been further strengthened by the recruitment of Professor David Baulcombe as Professor of Botany.
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of the building housing the Department of Plant Sciences. The Department is one of the world’s leading academic centres for plant and microbial sciences and has won an award for its innovative teaching. A recent research discovery identified a signalling molecule that may govern how the circadian clock in plants responds to
environmental changes. This has important implications for increasing agricultural output for food, as well as new demands for biofuels. Professor Baulcombe’s research is being funded by a £2 million grant from the Gatsby Foundation, which has given a further £2 million to support additional research fellowships. Professor Baulcombe was awarded the 2008 Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research for his discovery of how RNA molecules govern gene activity through a process known as RNA silencing.
The past year saw considerable progress across the full range of College and University facilities, many of which have been generously supported by alumni and friends of Cambridge. The new £12.5 million Centre for the Physics of Medicine on the expanding science and technology campus at West Cambridge; the £4.3 million graduate student accommodation project at Robinson College; and the £6.5 million new court at Clare College, complete with solar panels on the roof, are striking new landmarks.
Investing
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Other completed projects include the University Library’s Map Room, which has undergone a £1 million transformation; and refurbishment of a 200-year-old house at Pembroke College, informally known as ‘the wonkiest building in Cambridge’, now named the Chris Adams House after its donor. The innovative architecture and design of several new buildings has been recognised by various accolades. The eco-architecture studio at Scroope Terrace, home to the Faculty of Architecture and History of Art, was shortlisted for a prestigious Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Award 2008 and the RIBA East Spirit of Ingenuity Award. At Girton College, the Duke Building has collected a third prestigious prize for its high standard of architecture and design, this time from the Society of College, National and University Libraries. SCONUL gives design awards once every five years to recognise the importance of new library buildings, good design practice, and outstanding examples of library design. The University Library has been praised in a recent report on the funding of research libraries for the scale, distinction and uniqueness of its collections. The Library is in the vanguard of shaping advancements in digital technology as it applies to teaching and learning. Two major donations, one from an anonymous American benefactor and one from the Arcadia Fund, are enabling it to build on its strengths in this area with a range of innovative projects, ensuring that electronic information is future-proofed and that the University can further exploit the tremendous potential of new technologies to enhance the ways in which people learn.
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The University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education has completed a project that significantly improves facilities for course members with mobility difficulties at its adult education centre at Madingley Hall. Madingley Hall is a 16th-century country house set in its own grounds located four miles west of Cambridge.
Corpus Christi College’s Taylor Library was completed in February 2008. The Library is equipped with the latest technology, including selfcheckout of books and internet access. Modern entry control and self-borrowing systems allow for 24-hour-access on any day of the week. Adorning the outside and on view to the public is a mesmerising £1m clock surmounted by the chronophage, a time-eating beast. The Corpus Clock, designed by Dr John Taylor, was seven years in the making.
Investing
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Informing Research and teaching at the University contribute to national and global debates, influencing policy-making and public thought.
The independently-funded Primary Review is based in the Faculty of Education and is the biggest enquiry into English primary education for 40 years. Several research reports have been issued this year. One indicates that too much pressure on today’s primary school children is leading to stress and ‘deep anxiety’. National tests at ages seven and eleven, combined with general concern about problems like antisocial behaviour and climate change, are forcing today’s children to grow up too soon. Other findings suggest that while there has been improvement in standards achieved by many pupils, a narrowing of the curriculum has decreased the overall quality of primary education with a decline in teacher-pupil interactions and a narrowing of the range of teaching methods. The Review shows that the UK comes 18th out of 29 countries in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development in expenditure on primary education. The service sector is a significant part of the UK’s economy and Cambridge academics are among
those urging the government to ensure that the nation is best-placed to succeed. Taking Services Seriously is a University-led report that analyses how policy can stimulate innovation in the service industry; Succeeding through Service Innovation, a joint University – IBM programme, highlights the fact that service systems now form the major part of the economy, and urges governments, businesses and universities to increase support and funding for service innovation. A report from the Department of Sociology has revealed that efforts to reduce the workplace gender gap in the UK and the EU have made little progress in the last decade. The Cambridge-led report is part of the EU’s ongoing European Working Conditions Survey. It shows that women are still shouldering the bulk of household duties such as cleaning and childcare, meaning that they have significantly longer working days than men.
Findings have been released following the completion of seven Cambridgeled experiments in restorative justice. The experiments began in 2001 and were conducted by the Institute of Criminology in collaboration with the Justice Research Consortium. Results show that the experience of restorative justice, in which offenders confront their crime victims, reduced the frequency of reconviction by an average of 27 per cent.
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Cambridge researchers discovered a high level of gender segregation in people’s working lifestyles with women generally earning less and struggling to break into senior management roles. That lifestyle divide, researchers urge, must change if women are to have equal opportunities in the world of work. The Institute for Manufacturing is leading a major research programme called Support Service Solutions: Strategy and Transition. The £2 million programme has been launched to examine changes required by the engineering industry as it moves to provide more product-related services, rather than just the products themselves. The Institute for Manufacturing has also launched a new guide warning the world’s biggest manufacturers that their production networks are not designed to suit 21st century demands. Making the Right Things in the Right Places has been created over the past decade in conjunction with several multinational firms and sets out a systematic approach to the development of modern production networks. Another project from the Institute could help to reduce frustrating delays, long queues and lost baggage at airports. Radio-Frequency Identification Tags will be tested across the airport chain of operations making it easier for service teams to prepare a flight more quickly. Researchers believe this technology could lead to dramatic improvements at airports around the world, generating significant savings and reducing pressure on overstretched airport facilities. Alongside the economy, the environment, green issues and climate change remain high on the social and political agenda. These areas have been the subject for a series of Cambridge reports, seminars
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and publications that have helped inform public and political debate. Members of the Prince of Wales’s UK and EU Corporate Leaders Groups on Climate Change, a powerful grouping of business leaders developed and run by the University’s Programme for Industry, have been active in a number of high profile areas. These include issuing a communiqué calling for a comprehensive, legally binding United Nations framework to tackle climate change, testifying before Congress about the need for bold and urgent action to tackle climate change, and commenting on the European Commission’s climate change proposals. Cambridge academics played a significant role in the report, Key Elements of a Global Deal, analysing the implications of the commitment to cut greenhouse gas emissions by half by 2050.
areas. A novel E-shaped suspension system for heavy goods vehicles, designed by a Cambridge PhD researcher in the Department could also bring environmental benefits by reducing fuel consumption. The system enhances driver control, improves comfort and safety, and has already received an international honour from the Society of Automotive Engineers. The Institute of Continuing Education has launched a unique e-learning course entitled The Global Climate Challenge, which challenges participants to use their own carbon footprint to appreciate the problems of the subject area. The University is also working hard to reduce its own carbon footprint. It was placed equal fifth out of around 120 Higher Education Institutions in People & Planet Green Universities League 2008 published in the Times Higher Education Supplement.
The Department of Engineering is involved in a three-year project, with 11 industrial partners to use previously contaminated land for housing, commercial and environmental developments, and prevent the unnecessary use of green belt
Cambridge University Press (CUP) has one of the world’s leading publishing programmes on climate change. For 17 years, it has been publishing the reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007. The CUP’s UK publishing and printing operations also achieved ISO 14001 in recognition of their environmental management systems.
The Leverhulme Climate Symposium 2008, a major international climate convention, was held in Cambridge. It assembled 150 of the world’s most distinguished climate and palaeoclimate experts to explore key themes and determine how accurate modelling of the Earth’s present and future climate might be derived from knowledge of past climate change.
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Inspiring The University invests more than £3 million a year in a range of initiatives designed to widen participation, raise aspiration and enrich subject matter.
During 2007–08, there were several new developments aimed at widening participation and raising aspiration. The Area Links Scheme, which twins all Cambridge Colleges with local authorities in the UK, was expanded so that every local authority in the country is linked with an individual College, providing opportunities to visit Cambridge and to get advice and support for the brightest students. Peterhouse and Murray Edwards College have appointed dedicated School Liaison Officers for the first time. College School Liaison Officers are one of
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the first points of contact between Cambridge and thousands of teachers and pupils. They play a vital role in widening access, welcoming pupils from all over the UK on visits and going out to schools to give talks, dispelling the myths that can deter state school pupils from applying. Professor John Rallison, a Senior Tutor and Director of the Newton Trust (which administers the Cambridge Bursaries), has been appointed Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education following the retirement of Professor Melveena McKendrick; and the University also
welcomes its first ever Director of Undergraduate Recruitment, Jon Beard, and a new Head of Widening Participation, Tom Levinson.
school applications which rose from 55 per cent to 59 per cent: an achievement on which Cambridge is committed to build.
Further significant changes have been made to continue to widen participation and attract the brightest and best, regardless of background. The financial threshold has been raised so that more students are eligible for full and partial Cambridge bursaries and the University has abolished the separate Cambridge Application Form and associated fee, bringing the application process in line with that of other universities. The changes reflect Cambridge’s determination that its application procedure should be as straightforward as possible for applicants, especially those from under-represented backgrounds. Cambridge has also replaced its basic matriculation requirements with more flexible subject-specific requirements that are responsive to curriculum changes in secondary schools. For example, it is no longer a requirement that every student must have a GCSE foreign language qualification.
The high-profile charity Teach First held its firstever residential summer school at Cambridge. The University has also been appointed the lead higher education institution for Aimhigher Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, to promote higher education to thousands of young people who may have not previously considered going to university.
In the 2008–09 admissions round, there was a marked increase in the number of successful state
The University’s work in widening participation has been boosted by a £4 million gift from alumnus and educational philanthropist Harvey McGrath. The gift will enable the University to explore the effectiveness of new media, including social networking, podcasts and SMS, in delivering tailored information and advice to potential applicants and their teachers and families. It will support a scaling-up of the University’s highly successful summer school provision, its work with younger school students and a pilot programme to explore potentially radical ways of engaging and supporting bright individuals from disadvanteged backgrounds.
Pupils from Sutton Coldfield Sixth Form College spent 24 hours at the University learning more about applying to Cambridge and meeting current students.
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Connecting The University works hard to develop its place in the community: opening its doors and collections to visitors and sharing resources with a growing online community. The University celebrated the 400th anniversary of poet John Milton’s birth with a year-long programme featuring events at Christ’s College, where he studied, and throughout the University. Tens of thousands of people visited exhibitions displaying rarely-seen papers and drafts written by Milton himself, attended performances of some of his best-known works, tuned in online to the first ever live internet reading of his great epic, Paradise Lost, or visited and used new web resources designed both for dedicated Milton scholars, and for those who have never encountered his work before.
The public enjoyed a chance to explore ‘hidden Cambridge’ with the debut of the Open Cambridge scheme, designed to give the public the chance to see some of the treasures of the University and Colleges, and to enjoy the buildings and gardens. This was followed by the seventh annual Bridge the Gap charity walk. It was opened by Olympian Mark Foster and attended by 2,500 members of the public who raised £45,000 for local charities.
The University’s Churchill Archive Centre has released to the public a further 460 files from the Thatcher Papers which are held at the Centre on behalf of the Margaret Thatcher Archive Trust. The files revealed correspondence between Margaret Thatcher and political friends and foes including Arthur Scargill, Barbara Castle and Lord Carrington. Some of the most important copyright documents ever written have also been made available online for the first time, reflecting growing public interest in authorial rights in the age of the internet. Led by experts from the Universities of Cambridge and Bournemouth, the online resource offers users the chance to examine more than 10,000 pages of rare legal papers. In another collaborative online initiative – this time between Cambridge, Aberdeen and Trinity College, Dublin – a project to publish eye-witness accounts of the 1641 Irish Catholic uprising has been launched. The three-year project to transcribe and digitise 3,400 testimonies is the most ambitious joint British-Irish collaboration in the humanities ever undertaken.
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The annual Cambridge Science Festival continued to grow in stature and attracted an estimated 15,000 people to Science on Saturday, with a further 15,000 attending lectures, workshops and events throughout the Festival. The Science Festival, held every March, has something for everyone and gives Cambridge academics an opportunity to spark a fascination for science in a new generation.
Thanks to additional funding and generous private contributions, the Cambridge collections have continued to grow this year. Two museums have been successful in securing Heritage Lottery Funding. One grant will ensure memories, stories and anecdotes looking back over 50 years of Kettle’s Yard Gallery are preserved by an oral history project. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the Gallery, the project will act both as an historical record and as an introduction for the next generation of visitors. The Scott Polar Research Institute will use its grant to increase its already impressive collection of Inuit art and artefacts
with some 250 pieces of fine sculpture and graphic material from the period 1950–1990. Its collections were boosted this year when Sir Ranulph Fiennes visited the Institute for the official handover of his Transglobe Expedition Collection. His characteristically charitable act draws attention to the need to deposit such historical material into archives. He also followed in the footsteps of Scott and Shackleton by adding a penguin sketch to those drawn on blackboards by the two legendary explorers. These blackboards were recently discovered stored in the basement at the Institute.
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Plans for the University’s own major celebration of the life and works of one of its most famous alumnus Charles Darwin, the Darwin 2009 Festival, have been unveiled. The Festival is timed to coincide with the bicentenary of his birth and the 150th anniversary of the publication of his seminal work On the Origin of Species.
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The complete works of Charles Darwin online resource continues to grow with the addition of the first draft of Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution, which is among thousands of his private papers now accessible online for the first time. Cambridge’s Darwin Correspondence Project, which is working to publish the many thousands of letters to and from Darwin, has been presented with a Charles Darwin portrait medallion produced by world-famous potters Wedgwood. The medallion is intended as a token of the Wedgwood family’s support and encouragement for the work of the project. Murray Edwards College Art Collection received Heritage Lottery Funding to open up its contemporary art collection to significantly more visitors. The College has the second largest collection of art by women artists in the world, including works by Barbara Hepworth, Paula Rego and Elisabeth Frink. Embarking on his new role as Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, Dr Timothy Potts announced his intention to build on the achievements of the past decade to expand the Museum’s reach to an ever-wider audience. A display of 2,000-year-old tomb treasures from Ancient Georgia arrived at the Fitzwilliam Museum in the autumn of 2008 for its only UK showing. From the Land of the Golden Fleece is the first UK exhibition of the treasures excavated from two sanctuaries and four tombs at Vani.
As part of the 800th Anniversary Celebrations, the University created the 800 Wood, the largest planting project undertaken by the University. With more than 15,000 native trees, this 10-hectare woodland on the outskirts of the city has been created to join up with Madingley Wood, ancient woodland which has been designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest. There are plans to eventually create 25 hectares of woodland of mixed species. A path in the shape of a figure of eight runs through the new wood, which will be opened to the public in 2009. Students from two local schools helped with the planting and learnt more about the environmental benefits that this new woodland will bring. The University of Cambridge Active Community Fund distributed over £76,000 to local, national and international community projects. It is estimated that around 8,500 staff and students at the University volunteer, with a value of around £4 million annually to the community. Four Cambridge students received Gold Awards from Student Volunteering England for their dedication, achievement and leadership in voluntary activity.
Connecting
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Going global As well as being an integral part of the local community, Cambridge works hard to develop international relationships. Established in 2007, the Cambridge-India Partnership is an important initiative that encompasses academic collaborations, partner institutions, funding opportunities, events, activities, exchanges, student programmes, visits to and from India, and alumni relations. This year, a delegation of senior academics headed by the Vice-Chancellor made a two-week visit to India. The aim was to increase the visibility of Cambridge’s many links with India, to give formal recognition to existing partnerships and build new ones, and to strengthen ties with alumni. The visit began with the formal announcement of the Jawarhalal Nehru Professorship in Indian Business and Enterprise, which has been established at Judge Business School, with a gift of £3.2 million from the Indian Government. Professor Jaideep Prabhu has now been appointed to the post. Memoranda of Understanding were signed with five organisations including Tata Sons Ltd and the National Centre for Biological Sciences in Bangalore, building on existing strong relationships and establishing support for student exchanges and internships. Four Cambridge students have now worked on community projects in India through the Tata International Social Entrepreneurship Scheme, an international student internship programme launched by India’s largest business conglomerate. St John’s College welcomed three outstanding Indian graduates who arrived to commence study for their doctoral degrees, as winners of the first Dr Manmohan Singh Scholarships. The scholarship programme enables academically outstanding Indian students to study for
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University of Cambridge Annual Report 2007–08
PhD and MPhil degrees in subjects like Science and Technology, Economics and Social Sciences. It was set up in honour of the Indian Prime Minister who is a graduate and Honorary Fellow of St John’s College, having gained a First in Economics there in the 1950s. The Vice-Chancellor also made an historic fourday, four-state visit to the Gulf, meeting prominent alumni and visiting local dignitaries. Professor Richard became the first Vice-Chancellor of the University to visit the region and the tour provided an opportunity to re-affirm a number of existing partnerships and also to explore new opportunities in the region. As part of a unique collaborative agreement with the Japanese government, Cambridge is one of four research organisations located outside Japan that will host a satellite International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA). MANA is expected to create world-class research centres with global visibility aimed at developing innovative materials that contribute to sustainable development. It provides a long-term platform to substantiate and enhance scientific exchanges with the premier materials laboratory in Japan.
The long-standing bonds between the University and China were strengthened and celebrated when the Vice-Chancellor made a four-day visit to Beijing and signed historic agreements with the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Going global
29
Cambridge scholars have taken a keen interest in China’s development, and contributed significantly to promoting understanding between China and the West. There are currently more than 130 academic, industrial, and government partnerships between China and Cambridge, and Chinese students are the largest international grouping at the University today. A six-person delegation from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences visited the University on a factfinding trip as part of an exchange programme run by the British Academy. A new online international directory has been launched to map the University’s extensive
A new Centre for International Human Resources Management is now based at Judge Business School.
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University of Cambridge Annual Report 2007–08
international links and expertise, and improve the information available to anyone involved in international activity. Other activities with an international flavour include the first pan-scholarship symposium at Cambridge, Leadership for Positive Change, organised by the Gates Cambridge Scholars Society, which linked up with other students from international scholarship programmes; and a new Centre for International Human Resources Management, based at the Judge Business School. Devoted to excellence in global human resource management, the centre will promote the development of strong partnerships between industry and academia around the world.
Through Cambridge Assessment, the University has also teamed up with Camfed International, a leading education charity for African girls and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative to provide leadership and enterprise training for 450 disadvantaged young women in rural Zambia over the next three years. The project will support African women leaders with the confidence, courage and capacity to transform their lives and those of their families, communities and nations.
Going global
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Achieving Achievement at Cambridge encompasses many areas – research and education, sport and culture – and, on occasions, some unexpected talents. Every year members of the University receive more accolades than we can feature. Four Cambridge scientists were honoured by the Royal Society. A Royal Medal, which recognises substantial contributions to the advancement of Natural Knowledge or to the applied sciences, was presented to Sir Alan Fersht FRS, the University’s Herchel Smith Professor of Organic Chemistry and Director of the Cambridge Centre for Protein Engineering. The Leverhulme Medal, a triennial award for an outstandingly significant contribution to pure or applied chemistry or engineering, was awarded to Anthony Cheetham, Cambridge’s Goldsmiths’ Professor of Materials Science. The Michael Faraday Prize for science communication was awarded to John Barrow, Professor of Mathematical Sciences and Director of the Millennium Mathematics Project. Radio presenter and Cambridge academic Dr Chris Smith, perhaps best known as the BBC’s Naked Scientist, won the Royal Society’s prestigious Kohn Award for his success in bringing science to a wider audience, making it accessible to a non-scientific audience. BBC Radio 5 Live and The Open University have teamed up with the Naked Scientists to take their popular weekly science broadcast to a national audience. In the New Year and Queen’s Birthday Honours Lists, several people were recognised. Among them, Professor Bruce Ponder was knighted for services to medicine, recognising his continued work in the battle to beat cancer; Nigel Brown, one of two external members of the University’s Council, was awarded an OBE for services to business and the community; Duncan Robinson, Master of Magdalene College and former director of the Fitzwilliam Museum, was awarded a CBE; Polly
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University of Cambridge Annual Report 2007–08
Courtice, Director of the University of Cambridge Programme for Industry and Chief Executive of the Prince of Wales’s Business and the Environment Programme, was appointed Lieutenant of the Royal Victorian Order. The Vice-Chancellor received an award from the prestigious museum of which she was formerly director. The Verrill Medal is the highest honour for achievement in natural sciences that the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History can bestow. Professor Richard also received an Honorary Doctorate of Social Sciences from Queen’s University, Belfast. Scientists at the University have been highlighted as being among the top bioscientists contributing to the UK’s economic and social wellbeing. At a recent event at HM Treasury, run by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, a wide range of research and innovation at the University was highlighted for its economic and social impact: Professors Sir Tom Blundell and Chris Abell’s research which contributed to the foundation of drug discovery company Astex Therapeutics; Professor Athene Donald’s work on the micro-structure of food and it effects; Professors David Klenerman and Shankar Balasubramanian’s basic research into single molecule fluorescence which led to the high-speed DNA sequencing spin-out company Solexa; Professor Peter Leadlay co-founding Biotica Technology to exploit a breakthrough in understanding how soil bacteria make antibiotics; and Professor Nigel Slater’s role as a founder of Cobra Biosciences Ltd, from which Cobra BioManufacturing plc emerged in 2002.
The first Cambridge University Students’ Union (CUSU) Anti-Racism Campaign Awards were presented to three current undergraduates whose individual efforts are making a valuable contribution to a tolerant interfaith environment within the University and beyond. The CUSU Award for Promoting Diversity went to Zishan Jiwa (pictured), while those for Promoting Understanding were presented to Jonathan Gilmour and Ahmed Al-Khaja.
Achieving
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The Transporters, produced with the help of the University’s Autism Research Centre, was nominated for a BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts). The Transporters is a series of programmes which aim to help autistic children learn about human emotions. Students and alumni were this year recognised for their many and varied achievements. A Cambridge graduate is one of three winners of the 2008 Nobel Prize for Chemistry. Professor Roger Tsien, who completed his PhD in 1978, shares the prize with Osamu Shimomura and Martin Chalfie, for their work identifying and developing the fluorescent protein GFP. Seven of the ten Kennedy Scholarships (for study at either Harvard or MIT) were awarded to Cambridge students, after a national competition open to British postgraduate students from any institution. Frances Gregory (Selwyn College), a student with the Department of East Asian Studies, won the top prize at the Seventh UK Varsity Chinese Competition, which strives to find the UK’s best young scholar of Chinese language and culture. She demonstrated her understanding of architecture in Beijing and knowledge of ancient Chinese proverbs, and won over both the judges and the audience with her performance of Chinese sword-dancing. Eleven Cambridge alumni and students represented Great Britain in the Olympic Games at Beijing and contributed to the success of Team GB. Not surprisingly, rowing featured strongly. Tom James (Trinity Hall) won a gold medal in the Coxless Fours. Silvers were awarded to Tom Stallard (Jesus College) and Josh West (Gonville and Caius College) in the Men’s Eight, Sarah Winckless (Fitzwilliam College) in the Women’s Eight, and Annie Vernon (Downing College) in the Quadruple Scull. Anna Bebington
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University of Cambridge Annual Report 2007–08
(Newnham College) took a Bronze in the Double Scull, while Hester Goodsell (Jesus College) and Helen Casey (St Catharine’s College) competed in the Double Scull (Lightweight). Emma Pooley (Trinity Hall) won silver in the Cycling Time Trial. Andy Baddeley (Gonville and Caius College) made it to the final of the 1500 metres, while second-year Classics student, Alex O’Connell (Churchill College), was Team GB’s sole fencing representative. Looking to the next Olympic Games, the University has been designated an officially approved training venue for athletics, fencing and archery in the London 2012 Pre-Games Training Camp Guide. Cambridge has been victorious in several Varsity matches: it beat Oxford five goals to three in a thrilling 124th Varsity Football Match. The Cambridge Riding team took a record 6th consecutive Varsity Riding title; and at the Lord’s Varsity matches, both the men’s and women’s cricket teams recorded victories. Chris Nilsson has been appointed Chief Coach of the Cambridge University Boat Club. He joins the Club from his previous position as Olympic coach with Rowing New Zealand. The University has been conferring Honorary Degrees for more than 500 years in recognition of the recipient’s outstanding contribution in his or her field. This year Honorary Degrees were awarded to the Most Reverend and Right Honourable Dr John Sentamu, Archbishop of York (Doctor of Divinity), Professor Herman Waldmann, Sir Ralph Robins and Professor David Gross (all Doctors of Science), Professor Christopher Hogwood (Doctor of Music). These eminent individuals attended the Honorary Degree Ceremony, where His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, conferred the Honorary Doctorates.
Top row from left: Professor Herman Waldmann, Professor of Pathology and Head of the Sir William Dunn School of Pathology at Oxford, was a student at Sidney Sussex College in the 1960s. He became a University Lecturer in the Cambridge Department of Pathology and a Fellow of King’s College, and later a Visiting Scientist at the Laboratory for Molecular Biology. While there he worked with Cesar Milstein, who went on to receive the Nobel Prize. Professor Christopher Hogwood is a renowned conductor, keyboardist and musicologist. He has compiled a catalogue of more than 200 recordings and founded the Academy of Ancient Music Professor David Gross is Professor of Theoretical Physics and Director of the Kavli Institute for Theoretical Physics at the University of California. He received the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2004. Along with Frank Wilczek, a student of his, and David Politzer, the Nobel award was made for his discovery of asymptotic freedom. His work explained why
the force between subatomic particles (or quarks) weakens as they come closer together. Sir Ralph Robins first joined Rolls-Royce as an apprentice engineer, and progressed through the company to become Chief Executive and then serving as Executive Chairman, from 1992–2003. He is credited with transforming Rolls-Royce into a global player; in particular with fostering highly effective relationships with the academic world and pioneering the development of University Technology Centres, three of which are in Cambridge. Bottom row from left: The Most Rev Dr John Sentamu, is a former Selwyn student who trained for the Anglican ministry at Ridley Hall, Cambridge, being ordained a priest in 1979. He has been Archbishop of York since 2005. He was born in Uganda in 1949 and practised law in its High Court before he was imprisoned by Idi Amin. He left Uganda to take up his place at Selwyn.
Achieving
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Charting progress Full-time students 2007* Undergraduates Men Women
5,896 5,686
Postgraduates Men Women
3,493 2,770
Colleges and departments organised over 100 open days for students, parents and teachers throughout the year. In one week alone in July, 14,000 people came to Cambridge for open days.
* Full-time equivalent student load for year of entry as published in Reporter, Special No. 9, Tuesday 22 January 2008
Undergraduate admissions statistics**
Postgraduate admissions statistics*
2004 UK Maintained UK Independent Other and overseas
1,588 1,268 437
2004 Home Overseas
1,363 960
2005 UK Maintained UK Independent Other and overseas
1,630 1,287 467
2005 Home Overseas
1,400 1,167
2006 UK Maintained UK Independent Other and overseas
1,554 1,340 445
2006 Home Overseas
1,400 1,114
2007 UK Maintained UK Independent Other and overseas
1,517 1,327 546
2007 Home Overseas
1,425 1,023
Undergraduate applications for 2007 exceeded 14,000; 3,390 were accepted.** **Acceptances by type of school/college by year of entry or deferred entry for the following year
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University of Cambridge Annual Report 2007–08
*Includes all graduate and postgraduate courses by year of entry ** ‘Home’ includes students from the EU and other overseas countries paying the home rate of fees and students paying the ‘island’ rate of fees
Annual Reports of the Council and the General Board For the year ending 31 July 2008
Under the terms of Statute A, IV, 1(d) the Council is required to make an Annual Report to the Regent House, giving an account of its conduct of affairs during the past academical year; the General Board is required under Statute C, I, 1(f ) to make a similar Report to the Council.
The Council’s Annual Report for the academical year 2007–08 is published below together with the General Board’s Report. Both Reports summarise the work of the respective body and deal with matters which are the statutory responsibilities of each.
Annual Report of the Council for the academical year 2007–08 The COUNCIL begs leave to report to the University as follows: 1. Introduction 1.1. This is an Annual Report about the work of the Council itself, and should be read with the accompanying Report of the General Board to the Council. It is published with the Reports and Financial Statements for the whole University, including Cambridge University Press and the Local Examinations Syndicate (separate individual Annual Reports of which are published in due course). A Discussion will take place in Lent Term 2009. 1.2. The Council meets approximately monthly, except in August, and also holds two strategic meetings each year, one in the Spring and one in September. Much detailed business is dealt with through the Business Committee, and through a weekly circulation of business, both of which are regulated by careful protocols so that all members of the Council are kept informed and are able to participate in particular business if they wish. Much of the policy related work of the Council is undertaken through the major Joint Committees with the General Board, in particular the Planning and Resources Committee and Resource Management Committee, the Buildings Committee (which has an external chairman), and the Human Resources Committee (previously the Personnel Committee). A key role in financial matters is taken by the Council’s statutory Finance Committee, chaired by the Vice-Chancellor. The Council, and the ViceChancellor, are advised on legal and ethical matters (particularly concerning benefactions) by the Executive Committee. Important educational work, particularly about the standing of individual undergraduate students for examinations, is undertaken by the Council’s Applications Committee (a review procedure for decisions of this committee has recently been introduced). The Council’s statutory Audit Committee, which is chaired by an external member of the Council, has a crucial role in audit and assurance business, including both internal and external audit, and 38
assurance to HEFCE. 2. Appointments 2.1. The Council has appointed Professor John Rallison, T, as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, from 1 October 2008, succeeding Professor McKendrick, the first holder of this post. A high priority for the coming period will be reform of arrangements for graduate education. The Council has initiated the process to appoint a Pro-Vice-Chancellor to succeed Professor Minson, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Planning and Resources, from July 2009, and expects to make an appointment in the Michaelmas Term 2008. The Council will then review the portfolios of the team of Pro-Vice-Chancellors, ahead of making the three further appointments in 2009. 3. Governance and related matters 3.1. University Statute changes to introduce two more external members of the Council and to make provision for a deputy chairmanship of the Council (and also to regularize the timetable for meetings of the General Board) have been approved. Four external members, to serve from 1 January 2009, will be nominated shortly. Lord Simon has been appointed Deputy Chairman of the Council, to 31 December 2008. 3.2. An Advisory Group appointed by the Vice-Chancellor, chaired by the Master of Emmanuel, considered various matters about membership of the Regent House. The Council does not intend to make any early proposals for major changes, but will report soon about the present age limit on membership of the Regent House. 3.3. A periodic HEFCE Assurance visit took place on 30 June 2008. The report will be published by HEFCE in due course (probably early in 2009) with the Council’s reply. The Council expects the conclusions of the visit to be positive and constructive. 3.4. A process of consolidating Orders of continuing effect (that is, individual Graces of the Regent House with continuing effect which are not in the form of regulations) into the Ordinances has been initiated, to
take place during 2008–09. The result, published in the edition of the Ordinances in the Autumn of 2009, will be as complete and up to date as possible a statement of the University’s domestic legislation. This will provide a sound basis for the eventual full revision of the Ordinances (and Statutes), or of substantial parts of them. 3.5. A review is taking place of Statute U (the Statute imposed under the Education Reform Act 1988) following consideration of the comments made on the Green Paper issued in the Lent Term 2008. A simplified framework Statute is now being prepared, which, if adopted, would be fleshed out by more detailed procedural ordinances and codes of practice. 3.6. Revised arrangements for University-wide management of information services and strategy have been introduced, with the establishment by Ordinance of a new Information Strategy and Services Syndicate, replacing the former Information Technology Syndicate and the Council’s Information Strategy Group. The Syndicate is chaired by Professor S. J. Young, and has established a Business Committee. It is through the new Syndicate in particular that oversight of the major information systems (e.g. CamSIS, CHRIS) which are of particular importance to the University (and, in the case of CamSIS, the Colleges) in achieving good management, is provided. 3.7. The Council’s Finance Committee has revised the periodicity of its meetings and in 2008–09 will be meeting approximately twice each term. A business sub-committee has been introduced for routine and preparatory work. 4. Finance and resources 4.1. The Council reported at length on the financial and resource position of the University in the Budget Report for 2008–09. Although there are major uncertainties (in particular the impact of global economic circumstances, possible increases in pensions costs, and effects of Government policy), the University’s strategy of seeking to achieve financial sustainability, with income from a variety of sources, including the state, is sound. 4.2. A new process of reviewing University financial strategy has been launched by the Finance Committee, led by Ms Sherry Coutu, one of the external members of the Finance Committee. 5. Development and the Campaign and the 800th anniversary 5.1. The Council receives regular reports about these matters. 5.2. A programme of academic and other events for
the celebration in 2009 of the University’s 800th anniversary has been developed by a group led by Professor Jeremy Sanders. 5.3. The Campaign is progressing well and in 2007–08 was running ahead of the expected profile of achievement. It is too early to assess whether the global economic problems will affect the progress of the Campaign going forward. 6. University developments 6.1. Planning for the development of North West Cambridge is continuing. The Strategic Committee, chaired by Mr Alexander Johnston, an external member of the Finance Committee, is working efficiently. A Project Director, Mr Roger Taylor, has been appointed. A small group, chaired by the Registrary, is ensuring coordination. Consideration by the two planning authorities concerned is not yet concluded. The University’s proposals for the area are the subject of an independent examination before an Inspector. A Report to the University was recently published. 6.2. The significant programme of capital expenditure continued, with a new building at West Cambridge for Physics of Medicine and a new studio building for the Faculty of Architecture, along with a refurbishment of the Scroope Terrace accommodation. At the Addenbrooke’s Site the refurbishment of the former Pfizer building was completed for the Cambridge Centre for Imaging. There was restructuring of the Anatomy building on the Downing Site, and also of the Melville Laboratory at Chemistry. Many of these schemes required associated improvements to infrastructure, such as power supplies. 6.3. The University recently completed the sale of part of the former Downing College playing field, at the Addenbroke’s Site, to the Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for £2.8m, to enable the delivery of key worker housing, a planning condition of the Li Ka Shing Centre for Cancer Research UK. 7. Education and research 7.1. The result of the recent periodic audit visit by the Quality Assurance Agency was satisfactory. A review of learning support has taken place, and a strategic review of the Institute of Continuing Education is to take place. 7.2. High priority is given to widening access to undergraduate education, and a Director of Undergraduate Recruitment has been appointed, to lead such activities within the Cambridge Admissions Office, and to work in cooperation with the Colleges, and the intercollegiate Director of Admissions. 39
7.3. The University’s submissions to the current Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) were made efficiently. The full results of the RAE are not yet known, but they are of great importance to the future funding of research in the University. 7.4. Fuller information about education and research is contained in the General Board’s Annual Report to the Council. 8. Council institutions, the University Offices, and the Unified Administrative Service 8.1. The Registrary is responsible to the Council for the University Offices and the wider Unified Administrative Service (some of whose members serve in University institutions outside the University Offices, such as Offices of Schools, Faculties, and Departments). The Council also has general oversight of those University institutions not placed under the supervision of the General Board, mostly staff or student service institutions, and also the Fitzwilliam Museum. There are special accountability arrangements by Statute or Ordinance for Cambridge University Press and the Local Examinations Syndicate, which operate particularly through regular scrutiny by the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee also has oversight of University owned companies. 8.2. Ms Sara Cooper, Director of Health and Safety, and Mr Peter Deer, Director of Personnel, have retired. The existing Personnel Division has been reviewed and is being restructured to form a Human Resources Division, which also includes the Disability Resource Centre, and the Health and Safety Office, which no longer forms a separate division. Mr Indi Seehra has been appointed Director of Human Resources. Dr Martin Vinnell, DOW, has been appointed Director of Health and Safety: the professional and regulatory responsibilities and authority of this important post are not affected by the administrative inclusion of the Office in the broader Human Resources Division. Mr Martin Reavley, K, has been appointed to the vacant post of Director of Research Services. 8.3. Work is taking place on how administrative accommodation can be rationalized, with a view to improving services. The approach being taken is to identify ‘back office’ functions which can be located outside the city centre, so increasing efficiency, and to identify the other activities which require ready access by staff and students, and which probably need accommodation in the city centre, preferably in a single location or in a small number of units. The Old Schools would, increasingly, be a building used
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principally by the Vice-Chancellor and close colleagues. The full conclusions of this process are not yet ready, but it would be hoped that a substantial amount of existing accommodation, often in small units, could be released for reallocation, or for sale, lease or development. The possible development of a Staff and Student Services Centre would be a particularly beneficial outcome of this process, for the convenience of students and staff alike. (Services could be located in such a Centre whether or not they formally formed part of the University Offices, or were freestanding service institutions under the supervision of the Council). 8.4. A review has taken place of the Dental Service, which is part of the University Health Services, a Council institution. The Service will continue, with slightly modified arrangements. 8.5. Dr Timothy Potts became Director of the Fitzwilliam Museum on 1 January 2008. The Council pays tribute to the distinguished tenure of Mr Duncan Robinson as Director of the Museum. 9. The Council’s work in 2008–09 9.1 The Council’s work is planned throughout the year in a continually updated ‘work plan’. The Council reviews the updated plan at each meeting, and in particular considers it at strategic meetings. In addition, urgent business is brought to meetings of the Council or is reported otherwise. The Council has held a strategic meeting in March and September 2008, and plans to continue the programme of strategic meetings in April 2009, and in September 2009. 9.2 In 2008–09 particularly important work will be the initiation of the process for the appointment of the next Vice-Chancellor (from 1 October 2010) and the appointment of Pro-Vice-Chancellors. The Advisory Committee for the Vice-Chancellorship will be appointed in the Michaelmas Term 2008. Other priorities are the reform of graduate education, and the development of financial strategies for the University, taking into account the UK Government context (RAE outcomes, the future of public funding of capital, and the development of national policy for fees and student support).
24 November 2008
Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor David Abulafia Ross Anderson Tony Badger A. P. Bagshaw Nick Bampos
W. Bortrick Nigel Brown William Brown S. J. Cowley Bob Dowling F. P. Kelly
Debbie Lowther D. W. B. Macdonald F. Morrissey G. A. Reid David Simon Liba Taub
Joan M. Whitehead Richard Wilson S. J. Young
Annual Report of the General Board to the Council for the academical year 2007–08 1. Introduction 1.1. The General Board present this Annual Report to the Council summarizing their activities during the academical year 2007–08. Major tasks of great importance to the University completed in the course of the year include: • The satisfactory outcome to the Institutional Audit by the national Quality Assurance Agency (QAA); • The completion of the Board’s review of Teaching and Learning Support Services; • The completion and submission of the University’s return to the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE). 1.2. Turning to the institutions under the Board’s supervision, the Board proposed the establishment of the HRH Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Centre of Islamic Studies, supported by a most generous gift of £8m from His Royal Highness. The amalgamation of the Department of Chemical Engineering and the Institute of Biotechnology, forming a unified Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, was approved. The Cambridge Programme for Industry was incorporated as an institute with the School of Technology. 1.3. During the course of the year the Board approved the adoption of Standing Orders; arrangements for Visiting Committees across the University; student representation on the Councils of the Schools; and guidelines for the appointment of Heads of Schools. 2. Internal and national arrangements for quality assurance and enhancement 2.1. The University’s educational provision was subject to a QAA Institutional Audit in February 2008. The QAA judged that ‘confidence can reasonably be placed in the soundness of the University’s current and likely future management of the academic standards of its awards and the management of the quality of
the learning opportunities available to students’. The audit report highlighted the following areas of good practice: • the work of the Senior Tutors’ Committee; • the Board’s learning and teaching review process; • the quality of Cambridge’s published information; and • the range of admissions-related initiatives, especially those promoting widening participation. In the light of the report’s recommendations the Board’s Education Committee is developing a framework for conversion of the credit-bearing certificates and diplomas currently awarded by the Institute of Continuing Education into University awards, with a view to the Board reporting to the Regent House in the Michaelmas Term 2008. The Report will also encompass awards offered by other University institutions. The Board, through their Education Committee, will be looking at ways to develop quality statements to gather qualitative evidence and good practice from local reviews of courses. The Board have agreed that all postgraduates who teach should receive appropriate training. The full audit report is available at the QAA website (http:// www.qaa.ac.uk/reviews/reports/instIndex.asp. 2.2. A number of the University’s teaching programmes are subject to scrutiny by professional statutory and regulatory bodies. During the year the Board were pleased to note the positive reports on aspects of the University’s provision from: the General Medical Council, the Engineering Accreditation Board, European Quality Improvement Systems (Judge Business School), the British Computer Society, and the Institution of Engineering and Technology. 2.3. The Board’s Learning and Teaching Reviews are now an established part of the University’s quality assurance arrangements, and were commended by the QAA as ‘comprehensive in scope and fit for purpose’. The following institutions were reviewed in 2007–08:
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the Departments of Architecture, History of Art, and Physiology, Development, and Neuroscience, the Faculties of Classics, Economics, and Archaeology and Anthropology, and Judge Business School. Reports of the reviews of the following institutions were considered and the recommendations arising from them taken forward: the Departments of Biochemistry, Chemical Engineering, Geography, Zoology, and the Scott Polar Research Institute, the Institute of Continuing Education, and the Faculties of Divinity, Education, and Social and Political Sciences. The Board have commissioned a Strategic Review of the Institute of Continuing Education to report by January 2009. 2.4. Part of the publicly available data about universities is the National Student Survey (NSS). The Board recognize the importance accorded to the Survey by Government and the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in allowing potential applicants to make comparisons between institutions via the Unistats website, as well as being used in league tables. Following extensive discussions, Cambridge University Students Union (CUSU) altered their stance on the Survey and, for the first time since its inception in 2004, the response rate from Cambridge final-year undergraduates exceeded the threshold (50%) for publication of university-wide data. The results of the 2008 survey were published on the Unistats website (www.hero.ac.uk/uk/inside_he/education_quality_and_ standards/unistats.cfm) in September. The Education Committee has access to a more detailed analysis of the data which will be reviewed in the Michaelmas Term 2008. 3. Teaching, learning, and assessment 3.1. The Board set up a Review Committee in October 2007 to look at Teaching and Learning Support Services, which reported in July 2008. The scope of the review principally concerned activities currently supported by the University Library (UL), University Computing Service (UCS), Language Centre, and Centre for Applied Research in Educational Technologies (CARET). The principal recommendations of the report concerned: (i) developing the role of the University Librarian as Director of Library Services, responsible for all Library provision in the University; (ii) accelerating the process of centralizing journal subscriptions, to become the responsibility of the University Librarian, working in consultation with the Journals Coordination Steering Committee; (iii) bringing the management arrangements for CARET and the Language Centre within the remit of the
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Librarian, and the abolition of the separate formally constituted management Committees; (iv) the formation of a new body, ‘the Teaching and Learning Services Steering Group (TLSSG)’, responsible for pedagogic support, reporting to the Education Committee (for policy) and the Information Strategy and Services Syndicate (in relation to IT strategy); and (v) the role of the University Computing Service in pedagogy to be the subject of future review. The Board will consider comments on the proposals and make substantive recommendations, where the University’s approval is required, in the course of 2008–09. 3.2. During 2007, the Education Committee consulted Faculty Boards and other authorities on a number of issues relating to the structure of the undergraduate Tripos. As a result, a draft consultative Report is being prepared for publication in 2009, proposing that the award of the B.A. Honours Degree should require candidates to have passed a Part II examination. This move was endorsed by the QAA in its audit report, as necessary to ensure that the Cambridge B.A. is consistent with the Qualifications Framework for Higher Education. 4. Degrees, courses, and examinations 4.1. The Board approved numerous proposals for the revision of teaching programmes. Amongst the most significant changes were the creation of a new Asian and Middle Eastern Studies Tripos to replace the Oriental Studies Tripos for new students in October 2008; the introduction of a full three-year Linguistics Tripos to commence in October 2010; and the introduction of an Executive M.B.A. course from October 2009. 4.2. The Social and Political Sciences Tripos was re-named Politics, Psychology, and Sociology for candidates entering in October 2008, to clarify the range of disciplines offered in the Tripos particularly for undergraduate applicants. New papers were created in the Modern and Medieval Languages Tripos to introduce students to Modern Greek and to Ukrainian. A new undergraduate student exchange scheme was established between Engineering and the Ecole Centrale Paris. 4.3. The Board approved the withdrawal of the Diploma in Computer Science and Part II (General) of the Computer Science Tripos, and the indefinite suspension of the Double Maîtrise option in the Law Tripos from 2009.
4.4. New M.Phil. courses were approved in Environmental Science, Modern South Asian Studies, and Advanced Computer Science. In addition, the Board approved the conversion of the M.St. in Latin American Studies to the first part-time M.Phil. course. 5. Undergraduate admissions 5.1. In addition to the Undergraduate Admissions Committee’s ongoing role in liaising with the Colleges in monitoring admissions numbers, and reviewing admissions targets, procedure, and practice, it has given particular attention to several areas. 5.2. On the recommendation of the Committee, in October 2007, the Board endorsed a proposal that the general examination requirements for matriculation be replaced with subject-specific requirements; the Grace was approved on 23 April 2008. 5.3. The Committee also endorsed a refocused Widening Participation Strategy for 2007–10, and a formal protocol was drawn up to assist with closer monitoring of admissions numbers. 5.4. In March 2008, a proposal to establish a new post within the Unified Administrative Service (UAS), of Director of Undergraduate Recruitment, was approved. One of the Director’s first tasks, in liaison with the Director of Admissions for the Colleges, will be the effective deployment of a most welcome £4m benefaction from Mr Harvey McGrath to support the University’s recruitment and schools liaison activities. The increase in the proportion of students admitted from the state education sector to 59% from the start of the 2008–09 academical year reflects much hard work and commitment throughout the collegiate University to recruitment and widening participation activities. 6. Graduate education 6.1. The Steering Committee, established by the Board to implement the Action Plan arising from the Board’s Review of Graduate Education and chaired by the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research), has taken forward those recommendations which commanded sufficient support across the University and amongst the intercollegiate bodies. It is overseeing two pilot projects (in the Department of Physics and the Graduate School of Life Sciences) testing the advantages (or otherwise) of devolution of admissions and other aspects of graduate student administration. The Steering Committee has also established a group to review the procedures for dealing with student examination appeals and
complaints, as well as a group on graduate student funding arrangements. Good progress has been made in refocusing the agenda of the Board of Graduate Studies, to enable it to concentrate on strategic matters, with all Schools now represented on that Board. 7. International matters 7.1. The Board considered proposals for numerous international collaborations, among them schemes for research capacity development with the National University of Singapore and the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). They noted and endorsed the memoranda of understanding and research collaborations in India which underpinned the Vice-Chancellor’s visit to India in January and advised on possible similar activity in the Gulf. Such proposals require careful consideration of both the opportunities for, and reputation risks to, the University. 7.2. Through the work of the International Office they approved new funding from the Banco Santander both for students from the Iberian Peninsula and Latin-America and for students studying those areas. Similarly they noted the increase in activity under the Erasmus Scheme and the International Summer Programmes through the International Alliance of Research Universities (IARU) as part of increased student mobility. The Board expect to give further consideration to International Strategy in the coming year. 8. University finance and planning 8.1. The Board, through the Planning and Resources Committee, were closely engaged in the consideration of the annual budget and the financial planning process. The next planning round will reinforce the devolution of budgets to Schools, with clear – slightly enhanced – potential expenditure envelopes, within which Schools (and others) will be expected to manage pay costs. With the anticipated level of pay increase due in October 2008 under the most recent national pay agreement that may be difficult but is expected to be achievable. 8.2. The financial representation of School Plans is rooted in plans developed by Schools and other bodies. The Board take the opportunity annually to review the School Plans, this year based on summaries developed by Schools within a common format.
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9. Capital programme 9.1. The Board are engaged in discussions about a strategy to optimize the use of the capital funds made available by HEFCE for the period 2008–11 in relation to both academic needs and the revisions of the University’s estate plan. 10. Establishment of Professorships 10.1. As a result of generous benefactions raised through the 800th Campaign, or other external funds, the Board proposed the establishment of the following Professorships: • the Alborada Professorship of Equine and Farm Animal Science • a Professorship of Cancer Therapeutics • the A.G. Leventis Professorship of Greek Culture 10.2. The following Professorships were established with the support of prestigious competitive awards from the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society: • a Professorship of Protein Crystallography • a Professorship of Immunology and Cell Biology • a Professorship of Experimental Neuroscience • a Professorship of Astronomy 10.3. In addition, the following Professorships were established supported on general University funds by the reallocation of recurrent funding within the Schools concerned: • a Professorship of Education • a Professorship of Macroeconomics • a Professorship of Health Services Research • a Professorship of Nuclear Medicine 11. Research policy and the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 11.1. The University’s 2008 RAE return was submitted successfully three weeks after the HEFCE census date of 31 October 2007 and one week before the official deadline. The return comprised 47 submissions from 59 Departments covering the research outputs and achievements of 2,289 staff assessed by Faculty and Departmental RAE Committees as fulfilling both HEFCE and their own academic criteria. The Board’s RAE team handled centrally as much of the work as possible, but Faculty and Departmental staff with designated RAE responsibilities also faced a very heavy burden. The Board are grateful to these staff for their invaluable support. The ensuing audit by HEFCE has concentrated mainly on eligibility for inclusion with particular reference to non-University staff included on the basis of their close affiliation with a Faculty or Department. Across the whole University submission
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only four University staff have been judged by Panels as too junior for inclusion. This excellent outcome has justified the Board’s approach of including as many as possible of our academic staff at an early stage in their academic career. The results of the Exercise will be released in mid-December 2008. 11.2. The Board are concerned, however, that for most STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering, and medicine), the results of the RAE 2008 will only fully inform the HEFCE block grant for two financial years. This follows HEFCE’s announcement in May 2008 that the RAE will be replaced by a metrics-based Research Excellence Framework (REF) involving the use of citation indicators, wherever these are readily available, to inform assessments. Within the proposed REF programme, HEFCE are to hold a bibliometrics assessment exercise in STEM subjects in 2010; the results will influence funding allocations in these areas from 2011–12. The 2010 exercise is to be followed by a full assessment exercise for all subjects in 2012–13 in which quantitative indicators will play a major role but with light-touch peer review incorporated for those subjects where citation analysis is not appropriate. 11.3. HEFCE have identified their broad approach to constructing REF citation indicators but many details are unresolved. The University is one of twenty-two Higher Education Institutions participating in a pilot to support the development of the new arrangements. Although the pilot is an unwelcome burden in a very restricted timescale the experience gained should be of considerable benefit to the University in its planning for the 2010 and subsequent exercises. 11.4. The Board are advised on policy issues arising from the funding and conduct of research within the University by their Research Policy Committee. As well as reviewing the preparations for and execution of the RAE in 2008 and monitoring developments for the REF, the Committee received reports on the progress on strategic initiatives (such as Neuroscience, Conservation, Infectious Disease, Energy). The Committee also took the opportunity to review the Service Plan and Goals of the Research Services Division overall and in particular the operation of the Partnership Group. 11.5. Standing items for the Committee include reviewing reports and analysis on research applications, awards, and expenditure, the impact of Full Economic Costing (fEC), and the progress of specific interdisciplinary projects and major bids. Cambridge Enterprise reported on its progress and presented its business plan. Members who are associated with funding bodies were invited to update the Committee on their funding
body’s programme. Reports were received about the Research Council UK (RCUK) visit and the delegation who visited the University from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). 11.6. During 2007–08 a small working group met to identify the scope of pricing and costing issues related to industrial research. This work continues and the group will report in 2008–09. The Committee also considered the process by which limited number calls for proposal were put forward by the University. 11.7. Following a recommendation from the Research Policy Committee, the Board have consulted Councils of Schools on the need for a University Research Ethics Committee which would be responsible for codifying a common University research ethics policy and for maintaining and overseeing the work of established local committees. This proposal has received unanimous support and the Board will establish this Committee in the near future. 12. Human Resources (HR) 12.1. The Personnel Committee, a Joint Committee of the Council and the Board, was renamed the Human Resources Committee. Members of the Board were closely involved in consultations which had led to a major restructuring of the Human Resources Division to ensure the strengthening of the HR service, through the provision of a dedicated HR team to each School and the UAS/Non School Institutions (7 in total), thus allowing greater accessibility to HR expertise. In addition the review has also resulted in the approval of a consolidated HR Business Service Unit and dedicated strategic support and policy development area. 12.2. Policies on Disability Equality and Gender Equality were approved by the University. The Equality and Diversity area remained focused on developing the University’s equality schemes and promoting best practice in all areas, in particular through compliance and the use of impact assessments to assess recruitment of staff and students. The staff development function was renamed the Centre for Personal and Professional Development (CPPD) and continues to provide training programmes (both practical and academic) across the University. 12.3. Training and development opportunities for academic and research staff and for graduate students have continued to grow, often in partnership, with a variety of contributors drawn from across the Collegiate University. 2007–08 saw the successful pilots of programmes for new and aspiring Principal Investigators and a ‘Teaching Associates Programme’, accredited by the Higher Education Academy and providing a nationally recognized qualification in
teaching and learning in higher education for graduate students and early-career post-doctoral researchers. The Graduate Development Programme exemplifies strengthening relations with the Schools, Faculties, and Departments. 12.4. Governance and oversight arrangements were reviewed during the year and an Equality and Diversity Committee established which held its inaugural meeting in July 2008. The objectives of the Committee included recommending and overseeing the strategic direction and implementation of equality and diversity policies and practices within the University. 12.5. The University’s policy on the retention of staff after retirement was reviewed in the light of the experience of two cycles of operation and a revised document approved by the Board. Work on the revision of Statute U, following a consultation exercise in 2007–08, will be carried forward in the coming year. 13. Health and safety 13.1. The University continued to attract attention from the enforcement authorities and regulators due to its prominence in the higher education field. A measure of how successfully safety issues were managed by the University with the support of the Health and Safety Division (the ‘Safety Office’) is the continued low level of intervention by all of the statutory enforcement agencies compared to a relatively high level of inspection. This continues to be achieved through the comprehensive provision of guidance and policy documents (including web-based support), accredited training, internal auditing, professional advice, and ongoing support by Safety Office staff. The ongoing re-structuring of the Safety Office will involve greater de-centralization of safety management, providing more ‘risk-focused’ support at School and Department/ Institution level to enable the University to maintain legislative baselines and robust systems for health and safety management as part of the overall risk management process. 14. Libraries 14.1. The Board’s Committee on Libraries has noted the continuing progress of the scheme for the coordinations of journals, which now encompasses all Schools except the School of Arts and Humanities, and that discussions are proceeding about the duplication of journals between the Colleges and between the Colleges and the University. It has however registered its concern that funding for the scheme has not increased at a rate sufficient to permit new acquisitions.
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14.2. Other areas of advancement over the past year include the establishment of the Librarians’ Development Day as an annual event and the increasing importance of the eBooks project. 14.3. The Committee has maintained its rolling programme Alison Richard, Vice-Chancellor A. P. Bagshaw Nick Bampos Graeme Barker
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John Bell Tom Blundell W. Bortrick William Brown
of visits to Faculty and Departmental libraries in the University, and is pleased to report continuing evidence that a good service is being provided.
12 November 2008 Philip Ford Richard Friend Richard Hunter D. W. B. Macdonald
J. Rallison Patrick Sissons I. H. White
Reports and Financial Statements For the year ending 31 July 2008
Financial Review Preliminary The commentary that follows is intended to give the readers of the financial statements an overview of the finances and operations of the entire University group including Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press. It should be read in conjunction with the Annual Report of the Council and the Annual Report of the General Board to the Council for the academical year 2007–08. Both these reports are published in the Cambridge University Reporter. The financial position of the teaching and research activities of the University may be seen more clearly in the Financial Management Information published in the Reporter. Further detailed information about the finances and operations of Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press is given in the annual reports of those entities which are also published.
Scope of the Financial Statements The consolidated financial statements cover the teaching and research activities of the University, its subsidiary companies which undertake activities which for legal or commercial reasons are more appropriately carried out by limited companies, Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press and their subsidiary companies and joint ventures, the Gates Cambridge Trust, and certain other Trusts (the ‘Associated Trusts’). Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press are constituent parts of the corporation known as the Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Cambridge. Cambridge Assessment’s primary work is the conduct and administration of examinations in schools and for persons who are not members of the University. Cambridge University Press is the printing and publishing house of the University dedicated to printing and publishing for the advancement of knowledge, education and, learning worldwide. The Gates Cambridge Trust is a separately constituted exempt charity. It is deemed to be a subsidiary undertaking of the University since the University appoints the majority of its trustees. The purposes of the Gates Cambridge Trust are to support the University by enabling persons from any part of the world outside the United Kingdom to benefit from education in the University by the provision of scholarships and grants and otherwise. The assets of the Gates Cambridge Trust are therefore not available for the general purposes of the University. The other Associated Trusts are also separately constituted exempt charities with purposes primarily to support students ordinarily resident or domiciled in countries outside the United Kingdom to benefit from education in the University. The assets of these Trusts are similarly not available for the general purposes of the University. The University will continue to publish separately the accounts of its core education and research activities. The accounts of the activities of Cambridge Assessment and of Cambridge University Press are also published separately.
Mission The mission of the University of Cambridge is to contribute to society through the pursuit of education, learning, and research at the highest international levels of excellence. Its principal activities are teaching and learning, research, stewardship of collections and ancient buildings, and the activities of Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press.
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Funding The sources of income of the University are: – The Government, which through the Higher Education Funding Council provides a block grant for teaching and a grant determined by the quality and volume of research through the Research Assessment Exercise last carried out in 2001. – Students through fees charged for instruction and facilities. – Research income from publicly funded Research Councils, charitable foundations, and through collaborations with the private sector. – Benefactions and donations for current use. – Investment income from our accumulated endowment. – Income from services provided to external customers, including the customers of Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press. – A small but increasing income from commercialization of intellectual property.
Accounting changes Certain changes in accounting treatment have been made this year in order to be consistent with the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting for further and higher education. Comparative figures for 2006–07 have been restated. The principal changes are (i) to reclassify specific donations as endowments and (ii) to account for donations of, and for the purchase of, heritage assets as income, with no corresponding expense. This latter change has resulted in an increase of £9m in reported surplus for 2007–08. An accounting adjustment to provide for a post-retirement benefits liability in Cambridge University Press, as required under Financial Reporting Standard 17, has been dealt with in the current year, increasing expenditure by £14m.
Financial performance for the year The consolidated results for the year ended 31 July 2008 are summarized in Table 1 below. Table 1
2007–08 £m
2006–07 £m
Change %
1,074 (1,055)
948 (946)
+13.4% +11.5%
Surplus on continuing operations before donations of heritage assets Donations of heritage assets
19 9
2 3
Surplus on continuing operations before exceptional items Exceptional items: gain on sale of tangible fixed assets
28 –
5 3
Surplus on continuing operations after exceptional items Minority interest and transfer from restricted endowments
28 14
8 17
Surplus for the year retained within general reserves
42
25
2,321
2,439
Income Expenditure
Net assets
-4.8%
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This consolidated position is built up from the University’s three main segments: its core academic activities and the assessment and publishing activities carried out by Cambridge Assessment and Cambridge University Press respectively. Within the group there are a number of intra-group transactions, principally the printing of examination papers which the Press provides for Cambridge Assessment, and financial and other support for the University’s academic activities made by both Cambridge Assessment and the Press. Table 2 gives segmental information. Table 2
Surplus on continuing operations before gifts of heritage assets Results by segment
Eliminations
Pension scheme and other adjustments
Education and research Cambridge Assessment Cambridge University Press Press sales to Cambridge Assessment Financial support to the University from: Cambridge Assessment Cambridge University Press
Income Expenditure Surplus £m £m £m
Surplus to reserves £m
686 222 186 (11)
681 197 199 (11)
5 25 (13) –
25 28 (13) –
(11) – 2
(11) (1) 1
– 1 1
– 1 1
1,074
1,055
19
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Note that the University’s consolidated surplus for the year added to general reserves is higher than the difference between income and expenditure by virtue of two factors. Firstly, donations of heritage assets in the year amounted to £9m, which does not form part of total income but have been credited to reserves via the income and expenditure account. Secondly, a net transfer of funds of £14m has been made from endowments to reserves: this is the extent to which restricted endowments have funded expenditure in the year. In line with the requirements of the SORP, this transfer includes for the first time £13m (£8m in the University and £5m in the Trusts) relating to restricted donations not required to be invested for the longer term. The education and research activities of the University group were at a surplus because of increased fee income from a further year of undergraduates paying fees at the higher rate, improved recovery of indirect costs of research, a transfer of £11m from Cambridge Assessment in support of academic activities, trading, and other surpluses, and expenditure in Faculties and Departments being less than had been planned. The surplus transferred to reserves further includes donations of heritage assets and the net transfer of endowments to reserves. Cambridge Assessment continues to grow its UK and international assessment service and exceeded budgeted sales in all product areas. Costs were contained, in particular through benefits of the operational enhancements in warehousing and information systems. Cambridge University Press continued its favourable trend with good increases in sales, despite a weak US dollar to which around half its revenues are linked. Academic and professional publishing in books and journals recorded a strong performance and the English Language Teaching business stream was the Press’s highest growth business. The printing business was more challenging as the industry as a whole turned down in the UK. The Press maintained a small surplus, before the accounting adjustment in respect of earlier years referred to above.
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Change in financial position The University group has a sizeable balance sheet, and Table 3 below gives the movement in net assets showing the capital flows into the group and the impact of changes in the values of investment assets. Table 3
University Pension scheme £m
Education and research £m
Cambridge Assessment £m
Cambridge University Press £m
Net assets at 31 July 2007 Surplus on continuing operations after donations of heritage assets and gain on sale of tangible fixed assets Currency adjustments New endowment capital External funding for capital expenditure Actuarial loss on retirement benefits Decrease in investment values
2,222
177
99
(59) 2,439
14 – 36 38 – (127)
25 – – – (1) (10)
(13) 2 – – (24) (2)
1 – – – (57) –
Net assets at 31 July 2008
2,183
191
62
Movement in net assets
Total £m
27 2 36 38 (82) (139)
(115) 2,321
Capital expenditure programme The Capital Programme over the past ten years has provided new buildings and new facilities at West Cambridge, the Sidgwick Site, the Addenbrooke’s Site (Cambridge Biomedical Campus), Tennis Court Road (the old Addenbrooke’ Site), and at Lensfield Road (the Department of Chemistry), and major warehouse and office facilities for Cambridge Assessment. The majority of capital expenditure for academic activities is funded by external sources: Funding Council capital grants, donations for buildings, and equipment costs funded by research grants. The University continued to invest in its physical facilities over 2007–08. Total capital expenditure was £119m, of which £103m was in respect of the University’s academic activities, including £32m on equipment and £9m heritage assets. During the year significant expenditure was made on the new Physics of Medicine and Institute for Manufacturing buildings at West Cambridge, the Cambridge Centre for Imaging at the Addenbrooke’s Site, and the new Sainsbury Laboratory for plant sciences. Cambridge Assessment made further expenditure on its main warehouse in Duxford and continued to invest in its information systems.
Endowment and investment performance The University’s investment assets are significant and although investment income provides only a small percentage of the operating budget of the University’s academic activities it supports posts and activities and gives important financial assistance to students. The investment assets, analysed and disclosed in the financial statements according to the various purposes for which they are held, are managed in three principal pools. (i) Cambridge University Endowment Fund (CUEF) The majority of the fixed asset investments and endowment assets are invested in the CUEF. As at 31 July 2008 the CUEF had a market value of £907m (2007: £991m). Since 2004 the CUEF has been managed on a total return basis, such that the amount generated for budgetary expenditure is now determined by a formula based on underlying capital values combined with factors which smooth the rate of spending changes from year to year.
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The performance of the CUEF is monitored to a 30 June year end in order to utilize more accurate valuation and benchmark information and to allow comparisons with similar endowment investment funds. The investment performance of the CUEF was –7.1% over the twelve months to 30 June 2008 in a difficult year for equity and property markets (FTSE All-Share –12.9%, MSCI All Country World –8.5%, IPD UK Property –14.9%). Although this was slightly better than its historical WM Charities benchmark, it was well below the long-term objective of RPI+5.25%. During the year the University’s new Investment Office, overseen and advised by the Investment Board, assumed the supervision of the CUEF. A target long-term asset allocation was agreed: global equities 40%, real assets including property 23%, absolute return including hedge funds 20%, private equity 9%, fixed income including cash 8%. The Investment Office has made new global equity fund manager appointments and is now proceeding with caution to increase investment in the alternative asset classes. (ii) The Gates Cambridge Trust The Gates Cambridge Trust investments pool is managed separately through its own investment committee and external investment adviser. As at 31 July 2008 the Gates Cambridge Trust had assets of £166m (2007: £180m). (iii) Money market investments The majority of the current asset investments are invested in the deposit pool. This pool is managed by the Finance Division according to guidelines on diversification, exposure, and credit quality agreed by the Finance Committee and subject to external advice. The investments are principally short-term deposits with banks and similar institutions. At the time of reporting, amounts within the deposit pool totalling £11m remain frozen pending resolution of the Icelandic banking crisis. It is not possible to estimate accurately how much of the amounts due will ultimately be recovered. Since the year end investment markets have continued to decline, although there will have been a relative benefit during the recent period from the strategic decision to reduce the University’s exposure to UK markets and to increase its exposure to global markets.
Staff costs and pensions The University’s education and research activities staff received a general increase in salaries of 5% as at 31 October 2008, being the final element of a sector-wide pay settlement of in excess of 15.9% since 1 August 2006. Combined with the move to a single pay spine and other pressures the staff costs of the academic activities have increased significantly. The staff costs for Cambridge Assessment and Press have increased in line with their business growth. Staff costs by segment, before taking into account pension scheme adjustments and the exceptional prior period charge in the Press, were:
Education and research activities Cambridge Assessment Cambridge University Press
2007–08 £m
2006–07 £m
Increase %
352 54 60
326 52 54
+8.2% +4.5% +10.4%
The main pension schemes of the Group are the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), the Cambridge University Assistants Contributory Pensions Scheme (CPS), and those of the Press. The position of the USS is disclosed in detail in Note 31 to the accounts. A full actuarial valuation of the USS as at 31 March 2008 is being carried out, and it is expected that the contribution rate required will be increased by at least 2% in 2009 following a review of mortality assumptions, expected investment returns, and the rates of salary increases observed across the HE sector. Further increases in the USS contribution rate may be necessary. The adverse investment markets of the last year have had an impact on the assets of pension funds. The CPS and the Press’s schemes, being single-employer schemes, are included in the financial statements following Financial Reporting Standard 17 (FRS 17). The total pension liability under FRS 17 has increased from £79m to £158m, of which £48m relates to the Press’s schemes, primarily due to falls in asset values. Like most employers, the Council is aware of the changing liabilities of defined benefit pension schemes and monitors the University’s position carefully. It takes a long-term view but must consider the impact of the recent market falls on current funding positions. 52
Development and fundraising The University celebrates its 800th anniversary in 2009 and the campaign to raise £1 billion across the University and the Colleges is well advanced. The main aims of the 800th Campaign are to improve student support and to increase the capacity of Collegiate Cambridge to deliver its core missions of teaching and research. The benefits are long-term and cannot be expected to affect the finances of the University in the short term. In 2007–08 an additional £36m was added to endowment, and total funds raised including for capital expenditure and gifts for current use was approximately £70m. Over recent years the average use of donations has been approximately 40% for construction, 40% for endowment (to provide an income to fund a post or activity), and 20% for current use.
Future projects Plans are well advanced for development of 140 hectares of University land at North West Cambridge to create a site for future growth of academic space, the housing requirements of staff and students, and for commercial research. The project represents a substantial financial commitment over a period of over fifteen years. In addition to the staffing, academic, and research space aims, the University will seek to generate an income stream. The University has also progressed further proposals for the development of its city-centre New Museums and Mill Lane Sites. Current expectations are that the New Museums Site will be redeveloped to provide new or refurbished accommodation for Departments in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences, for the Department of Geography, and for elements of the Unified Administrative Service and Staff and Student Services. These proposals are in the consultation phase but will require the transfer of the Departments of Materials Science and Metallurgy and Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology to new accommodation in West Cambridge. The costs of the redevelopments have yet to be calculated but, if progressed, they will form an integrated capital programme during the next six years and will inevitably be the focus of significant capital expenditure.
Principal risks and uncertainties affecting the long-term financial position There are a number of risks that the University faces, the principal ones being the ability to maintain and develop its research funding, to attract the best students, and to maintain and renew its physical facilities. The University is seeking to diversify its sources of income to avoid over-reliance on any one source. The businesses of Cambridge Assessment and the Press are subject to the usual pressures of competing internationally against major competitors, and in balancing their mission with the need to generate sufficient net income to ensure that they thrive and support the University’s core academic activities when possible. In the near and medium term the financial uncertainties are:
– The HEFCE funding model for teaching and for research funding is expected to change. In particular the consequences on the grant of the outcome of the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) are impossible to predict, but the increased number of staff submitted by the University compared with 2001 (increased by 16%) give reasonable grounds to assume that it will be at least maintained. – Significant contributions to the University’s income come through the Research Councils in the contribution to indirect costs and support of research students. Because of wider budgetary issues, some of them may not be able to fund the level of activity to which the sector has become accustomed. – The University also receives considerable research and capital funding from endowed charities and foundations and is at risk if, as a result of adverse investment markets, their programmes and support were reduced. – The University is exposed directly to investment markets in its own endowment and other investment assets. – The cost of providing pensions is a particular concern. As discussed above the USS will be subject to a triennial actuarial review as at 31 March 2008. Its assets will be affected by the world financial conditions, and the valuation of liabilities is likely to increase. – A weaker economic and financial environment could also put additional pressure on donations for endowment, capital expenditure and for current use, and on other sources of funding such as fees. – The economic success of Cambridge Assessment and the Press, which operate in challenging international markets and in worsening economic conditions. Cambridge Assessment was able to transfer £11m in respect of 2007–08 (2007: £9m) and provides an increasingly important, but vulnerable, source of unrestricted funding. The Press intends to resume material transfers when conditions allow. 53
In conclusion The University generated a modest operating surplus in 2007–08 and must continue to do so to allow investment in its people, programmes, and physical facilities. It needs a diversity of income streams to reduce its exposure to short-term changes in, for example, government policy or, as we are seeing, the economic situation. The University’s costs, primarily staff costs but also certain other costs such as utilities, have increased significantly over the past three years. This has been manageable as variable undergraduate fees have raised fee income and full economic costing of research grants and contracts has been phased in. The financial plans for academic activities are for small surpluses, against which the downside expectation is for increased pension costs. The position could also be affected by the outcome of the 2008 RAE, changes in the formulaic funding of undergraduate teaching, or reduced commitment by the government to research. These factors need to be viewed against generally worsening economic conditions which will have an impact in many areas and for which the University is now planning.
Professor Tony Minson Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Planning and Resources)
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Corporate Governance 1. The following statement is provided by the Council to enable readers of the financial statements to obtain a better understanding of the arrangements in the University for the management of its resources and for audit. 2. The University endeavours to conduct its business in accordance with the seven principles identified by the Committee on Standards in Public Life (selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership) and within the general principles of the Guidance to Universities which has been provided by the Committee of University Chairmen and its ‘Guide for Members of Governing Bodies of Universities and Colleges in England, Wales and Northern Ireland’. Further information is given at paragraph 9 below. Under the Statutes, the Governing Body of the University is the Regent House which comprises the resident senior members of the University and the Colleges, together with the Chancellor, the High Steward, the Deputy High Steward, and the Commissary. Subject to the Regent House, the Council of the University is the principal executive and policy-making body of the University, with general responsibility for the administration of the University, for the planning of its work, and for the management of its resources. The membership of the Council includes two external members, one of whom chairs the Audit Committee (see paragraph 7 below). The Statutes have been amended to provide for the inclusion of a further two external members on the Council and the appointment of a Deputy Chairman of the Council, normally one of the external members, to take the chair as necessary or when it would be inappropriate for the Vice-Chancellor to do so, in particular in relation to her own accountability. The General Board of the Faculties is responsible, subject to the Regent House and to the responsibilities of the Council, for the academic and educational policy of the University. 3. The University is an exempt charity. The members of the University Council are the charity trustees and are responsible for ensuring compliance with charity law. 4. The Council is advised in carrying out its duties by a number of Committees, including the Planning and Resources Committee, the Finance Committee, the Audit Committee, the Remuneration Committee, the Investment Board and the Risk Steering Committee. The Planning and Resources Committee is a joint committee of the Council and the General Board. Its responsibilities include the development and oversight of the University’s Strategic Plan, and the preparation of the University’s budget. The Finance Committee is chaired by the Vice-Chancellor and advises the Council on the management of the University’s assets,
including real property, monies, and securities, and on the care and maintenance of all University sites and buildings. The Audit Committee governs the work of the Internal and External Auditors, reporting on these matters directly to the Council. The Remuneration Committee is chaired by an external member of Council and advises the Council on the remuneration of senior staff in the University. The Investment Board, which has a majority of external members, advises the Council on the management of the University’s investment assets. The Risk Steering Committee is responsible to the Council for the identification of the major corporate risks and their management. 5. The Vice-Chancellor is, de facto, the principal academic and administrative officer of the University. Under the terms of the Financial Memorandum between the University and the Higher Education Funding Council for England the ViceChancellor is the Designated Officer of the University. 6. Under the Statutes, it is the duty of the Council to exercise general supervision over the finances of all institutions in the University other than the University Press (which is governed by the Council and the Press Syndicate through separate statutory arrangements); to keep under review the University’s financial position and to make a report thereon to the University at least once in each year; to recommend bankers for appointment by the Regent House; to prepare and publish the annual accounts of the University in accordance with UK applicable accounting standards such that the accounts give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the University. 7. It is the duty of the Audit Committee to keep under review the effectiveness of the University’s internal systems of financial and other controls; to advise the Council on the appointment of external and internal auditors; to consider reports submitted by the auditors, both external and internal; to monitor the implementation of recommendations made by the internal auditors; to satisfy themselves that satisfactory arrangements are adopted throughout the University for promoting economy, efficiency, and effectiveness; to establish appropriate performance measures and to monitor the effectiveness of external and internal audit; to make an annual report to the Council, the Vice-Chancellor, and the Higher Education Funding Council for England; to receive reports from the National Audit Office and the Higher Education Funding Council for England. Membership of the Audit Committee includes as a majority five external members (including the chair of the Committee), appointed by the Council with regard to their professional expertise and experience in comparable roles in corporate life.
55
8. There are Registers of Interests of Members of the Council, the General Board, the Finance Committee and the Audit Committee, and of the senior administrative officers. Declarations of interest are made systematically at meetings. 9. The University is a self-governing community whose members act in accordance with the seven principles of public life (see paragraph 2 above) and in pursuit of the objectives and purposes of the University as set out in its Statutes. The University complies with most but not all of
the voluntary Governance Code of Practice published in November 2004 by the Committee of University Chairmen. In particular the Vice-Chancellor is chair of the Council, which does not have a majority of external members, and the Council is subject to the statutory authority of the Regent House. The University has no immediate plans to change these arrangements, which have proved reliable over many years in enabling the University to achieve its academic objectives.
Members of the Council during the year ended 31 July 2008 The Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor Elected as Heads of Colleges Prof. William Brown Prof. Anthony Badger Dame Veronica Sutherland Lord Wilson of Dinton Elected as Professors or Readers Prof. Ross Anderson Prof. Zygmunt Baranski (to 17 March 2008) Prof. David Abulafia (from 23 May 2008) Prof. Stephen Young Dr Liba Taub Elected as members of the Regent House Dr Nick Bampos Dr Michael Clark Dr Stephen Cowley Mr Robert Dowling Ms Deborah Lowther Dr Donald MacDonald Dr Joan Whitehead Dr George Reid
56
Members in class (e) (external members) Mr Nigel Brown Lord Simon of Highbury Student members 2007–08 (to 30 June 2008) Mr William Bortrick Mr Sam Ensor-Rose Mr Mark Fletcher (from 1 July 2008) Mr Anthony Bagshaw Mr William Bortrick Ms Freya Morrison Secretary: the Registrary
Statement of Internal Control 1. The Council is responsible for maintaining a sound system of internal control that supports the achievement of policies, aims, and objectives, while safeguarding the public and other funds and assets for which the Council is responsible, in accordance with the Statutes and Ordinances and the Financial Memorandum with the HEFCE. 2. The system of internal control is designed to manage rather than eliminate the risk of failure to achieve policies, aims, and objectives; it therefore provides reasonable but not absolute assurance of effectiveness. 3. The system of internal control is designed to identify the principal risks to the achievement of policies, aims, and objectives, to evaluate the nature and extent of those risks and to manage them efficiently, effectively, and economically. This process was in place for the year ended 31 July 2008 and up to the date of approval of the financial statements, and accords with HEFCE guidance. 4. The Council is responsible for reviewing the effectiveness of the system of internal control. The following processes have been established: (a) The Council meets ten times throughout the year to consider the plans and strategic direction of the University. (b) The Council receives periodic reports from the Chairman of the Audit Committee concerning internal control and the minutes of all meetings of the Audit Committee. (c) The Council’s Risk Steering Committee oversees risk management. The Council receives periodic reports
from the Chairman of the Risk Steering Committee and the minutes of all meetings of the Risk Steering Committee. Risk management is a standing item on the agenda for meetings of the Council. (d) The Audit Committee receives periodic reports from the internal auditors, which include the internal auditors’ independent opinion on the adequacy and effectiveness of the University’s system of internal control and risk management, together with recommendations for improvement. (e) The University offers a formal programme of risk management and awareness training and individual training to risk managers as required. (f) A system of indicators has been developed for the University’s key risks. (g) A robust risk prioritization methodology based on risk ranking and cost-benefit analysis has been established. (h) A University-wide risk register is maintained. (i) Key risks have been assigned to risk owners and reporting channels established. 5. The Council’s review of the effectiveness of the system of internal control is informed by the work of the internal auditors Grant Thornton. They operate to the standards defined in Accountability and Audit: HEFCE Code of Practice. 6. The Council’s review of the effectiveness of the system of internal control is also informed by the work of the senior officers and the risk owners within the University, who have responsibility for the development and maintenance of the internal control framework, and by comments made by the external auditors in their management letter and other reports.
Statement of the Responsibilities of the Council 1. Under the University’s Statutes it is the duty of the Council to prepare and to publish the annual accounts of the University in accordance with UK applicable accounting standards such that the accounts give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the University. 2. The Council are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the University. 3. In preparing the financial statements the Council are required to: (a) select suitable accounting policies and then apply them consistently;
(b) make judgements and estimates that are reasonable and prudent; (c) state whether applicable accounting standards have been followed; (d) prepare the financial statements on a going concern basis unless it is inappropriate to presume that the University will continue to operate; (e) ensure that income has been applied in accordance with the University’s Statutes and Ordinances, and its Financial Memorandum with the HEFCE and the funding Agreement with the Training and Development Agency for Schools; and (f) safeguard the assets of the University and take reasonable steps to prevent and detect fraud and other irregularities. 57
Independent Auditors’ Report to the Council We have audited the financial statements of the University of Cambridge for the year ended 31 July 2008 which comprise the statement of principal accounting policies, the consolidated income and expenditure account, the note of historical cost result, the consolidated statement of total recognised gains and losses, the balance sheets, the consolidated cash flow statement and the related notes 1 to 36. These financial statements have been prepared under the accounting policies set out therein.
funding agreement with the Training and Development Agency for Schools.
This report is made solely to the Council, as a body, in accordance with the Financial Memorandum effective from 1 August 2006. Our audit work has been undertaken so that we might state to the Council those matters we are required to state to them in an auditors’ report and for no other purpose. To the fullest extent permitted by law, we do not accept or assume any responsibility to anyone other than the Council and the Council’s members as a body, for our audit work, for this report, or for the opinions we have formed.
We read the other information contained in the Financial Review, the Corporate Governance Statement, the Statement of Internal Control and the Statement of Responsibilities of the Council and consider the implications for our report if we become aware of any apparent misstatements or material inconsistencies with the financial statements.
Respective responsibilities of the Council and auditors As described in the statement of the responsibilities of the Council, the Council is responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with the University’s statute, the Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting for Further and Higher Education and other applicable United Kingdom law and accounting standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). Our responsibility is to audit the financial statements in accordance with relevant United Kingdom legal and regulatory requirements and International Standards on Auditing (UK and Ireland). We report to you our opinion as to whether the financial statements give a true and fair view and are properly prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting for Further and Higher Education and other applicable United Kingdom law and accounting standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice). We also report whether, in all material respects, income from funding bodies, grants and income for specific purposes and from other restricted funds administered by the University of Cambridge have been properly applied only for the purposes for which they were received and whether income has been applied in accordance with the Statutes and Ordinances and, where appropriate, with the Financial Memorandum with the Higher Education Funding Council for England and the 58
We also report to you if, in our opinion, the Financial Review is not consistent with the financial statements, if the Group has not kept proper accounting records, the accounting records do not agree with the financial statements or if we have not received all the information and explanations we require for our audit.
Basis of audit opinion We conducted our audit in accordance with International Standards on Auditing issued by the Auditing Practices Board and the Audit Code of Practice issued by the Higher Education Funding Council for England. An audit includes examination, on a test basis, of evidence relevant to the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. It also includes an assessment of the significant estimates and judgements made by the Council in the preparation of the financial statements and of whether the accounting policies are appropriate to the Group’s circumstances, consistently applied and adequately disclosed. We planned and performed our audit so as to obtain all the information and explanations which we considered necessary in order to provide us with sufficient evidence to give reasonable assurance that the financial statements are free from material misstatement, whether caused by fraud or other irregularity or error. In forming our opinion, we also evaluated the overall adequacy of the presentation of information in the financial statements.
Opinion In our opinion: (a) the financial statements give a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the University and the Group as at 31 July 2008 and of the surplus of the Group for the year then ended and have been properly prepared in accordance with the Statement of Recommended Practice on Accounting for Further and Higher Education;
(b) in all material respects income from Higher Education Funding Council for England, and from the Training and Development Agency for Schools and grants and income for specific purposes and from other restricted funds administered by the University have been applied only for the purposes for which they were received; and (c) in all material respects income has been applied in accordance with the University’s Statutes and
Ordinances, and where appropriate, with the Financial Memorandum, dated July 2006 with the Higher Education Funding Council for England and with the funding agreement with the Training and Development Agency for Schools. Deloitte & Touche LLP Chartered Accountants and Registered Auditors Cambridge, United Kingdom 24 November 2008
Statement of Principal Accounting Policies Basis of preparation The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with applicable United Kingdom accounting standards and the Statement of Recommended Practice: Accounting for Further and Higher Education (the SORP).
Basis of accounting The financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention, modified in respect of the treatment of investments and certain operational properties which are included at valuation.
Basis of consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the University and its subsidiary undertakings including the Gates Cambridge Trust and other Associated Trusts. Details of the subsidiary undertakings included are given in note 32. Intra-group transactions and balances are eliminated on consolidation. The Gates Cambridge Trust is a separately constituted exempt charity which is accounted for as a subsidiary undertaking of the University since the University appoints the majority of its trustees. The purposes of the Gates Cambridge Trust are to support the University by enabling persons (to be known as ‘Gates Cambridge Scholars’) from any part of the world outside the United Kingdom to benefit from education in the University by provision of scholarships and grants and otherwise. These purposes cannot be changed without the consent of the settler, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The assets of the Gates Cambridge Trust are therefore not available for the general purposes of the University.
The Associated Trusts are similarly constituted exempt charities with purposes primarily to provide support to enable students ordinarily resident or domiciled in countries outside the United Kingdom to benefit from education in the University. The assets of the Associated Trusts are therefore not available for the general purposes of the University. The consolidated financial statements do not include the accounts of the 30 Colleges and one Approved Society in the University (‘the Colleges’), each of which is an independent corporation. Transactions with the Colleges are disclosed in note 34. The consolidated financial statements do not include the accounts of Cambridge University Students Union or of the Cambridge University Graduate Union, as these are separate bodies in which the University has no financial interest and over whose policy decisions it has no control.
Recognition of income Recurrent grant Recurrent grant is received from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Training and Development Agency for Schools. Recurrent grant is recognised as income in the period to which it relates. Restricted grant income Grants are received for restricted purposes, principally from HEFCE and research sponsors. Restricted grants are recognised as income to the extent that relevant expenditure has been incurred. Charitable donations Charitable donations are recognised on receipt or where there is certainty of future receipt and the value can be measured reliably. The accounting treatment of a donation depends on the nature and extent of restrictions specified
59
by the donor. Donations with no substantial restrictions are recognised as income in the income and expenditure account. Donations which are to be retained for the future benefit of the University, and other donations with substantially restricted purposes, other than for the acquisition or construction of tangible fixed assets, are recognised in the statement of total recognised gains and losses as new endowments. Capital grants and donations Grants and donations are received for the purposes of funding the acquisition and construction of tangible fixed assets. In the case of depreciable assets these are credited to deferred capital grants when the related capital expenditure is incurred and released to income over the expected useful life of the respective assets in line with the depreciation policy. Grants and donations of, or for the acquisition of, freehold land or heritage assets, which are non-depreciable assets, are credited to the income and expenditure account in the year of acquisition. This is a change of accounting policy: in previous years all such grants and donations were credited to deferred capital grants. Academic fees Tuition fees for degree courses are charged to students by academic term. Income is recognised for academic terms falling within the period. For short courses, fees are charged in advance for the entire course and income is recognised to the extent that the course duration falls within the period. Examination and assessment services Income from assessment is recognised when services are rendered and substantially completed. Publishing and printing Income is recognised on delivery of the goods to the customer. Other income Income is received from a range of activities including residences, catering, conferences, and other services rendered. Income is recognised on the exchange of the relevant goods or services. Endowment and investment income All investment income is credited to the income and expenditure account in the period in which it is earned. Income from restricted endowments not expended in accordance with the restrictions of the endowment is transferred from the income and expenditure account to restricted endowments.
Foreign currency translation Transactions denominated in foreign currencies are recorded at the rate of exchange ruling at the date of the transactions. Where foreign branches of Cambridge University Press (CUP) accounting in foreign currencies operate as separate businesses, all their assets and liabilities are translated into 60
sterling at year-end rates and the net effect of currency adjustments is taken directly to reserves. Otherwise, monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies are translated into sterling at year-end rates and translation differences are taken to the income and expenditure account.
Tangible fixed assets Land and buildings Operational land and buildings are included in the financial statements at their 1994 valuation with subsequent additions at cost. No depreciation is provided on freehold land or on assets in construction. Freehold buildings are written off over their estimated useful lives, which are between 15 and 50 years, and leasehold properties are written off over the length of the lease. Equipment Equipment costing less than ÂŁ10,000 per individual item is written off in the year of purchase. All other equipment is capitalised and depreciated so that it is written off over its estimated useful life of between four and ten years, except where it is purchased from a research grant when it is written off over the remaining life of the grant. Heritage assets The University holds and conserves a number of collections, exhibits, artefacts, and other assets of historical, artistic or scientific importance. In accordance with FRS 15, heritage assets acquired before 1 August 1999 have not been capitalised, since reliable estimates of cost or value are not available on a costbenefit basis. Acquisitions since 1 August 1999 have been capitalised at cost or, in the case of donated assets, at valuation on receipt. In line with the general fixed assets accounting policy, the threshold for capitalising assets is ÂŁ10,000. Heritage assets are not depreciated since their long economic life and high residual value mean that any depreciation would not be material.
Intangible fixed assets: goodwill Goodwill arises on consolidation and is based on the fair value of the consideration given for the subsidiary and the fair value of its assets at the date of acquisition. Goodwill is amortised over its estimated economic life of between five and ten years on a straight line basis. Where there is impairment in the carrying value of goodwill, the loss is included in the results of the period.
Investments Fixed asset investments and endowment assets are included in the balance sheet at market value, except for investments in subsidiary undertakings which are stated in the University’s
balance sheet at cost and eliminated on consolidation. Properties held for investment purposes are valued annually on the basis of estimated open market values on an existing use basis by Knight Frank. Marketable securities are valued at midmarket valuation on 31 July. Non-marketable securities, including investments in spin-out companies, are included at valuation by the Council. Current asset investments are included in the balance sheet at the lower of cost and net realisable value.
Stocks and work in progress Stocks are stated at the lower of cost and net realisable value after making provision for slow moving and obsolete items.
Endowment funds Endowment funds are classified under three headings: Where the donor has specified that the fund is to be permanently invested to generate an income stream for the general purposes of the University, the fund is classified as an unrestricted permanent endowment. Where the donor has specified that the fund is to be permanently invested to generate an income stream to be applied for a restricted purpose, the fund is classified as a restricted permanent endowment. Where the donor has specified a particular objective other than the acquisition or construction of tangible fixed assets, and that the University must or may convert the donated sum into income, the fund is classified as a restricted expendable endowment.
Pension costs The University contributes to a number of defined benefit pension schemes and accounts for the costs in relation to these schemes in accordance with FRS 17 (Retirement benefits). Where the University is unable to identify its share of the underlying assets and liabilities in a scheme on a reasonable and consistent basis, it accounts as if the scheme were a defined contribution scheme, so that the cost is equal to the total of contributions payable in the year. For other defined benefit schemes, the assets of each scheme are measured at fair value, and the liabilities are measured on an actuarial basis using the projected unit method and discounted at an appropriate rate of return. The University’s share of the surplus or deficit of the scheme is recognised as an asset or liability on the balance sheet. The current service cost, being the actuarially determined present value of the pension benefits earned by employees in the current period, and the past service cost are included within staff costs. Endowment and investment income includes the net of the expected return on assets, being the actuarial forecast of total return on the assets of the scheme, and the interest cost being the notional interest cost arising from unwinding the discount on the scheme liabilities. All changes in the pension surplus or deficit due to changes in actuarial assumptions or differences between actuarial forecasts and the actual out-turn are reported in the statement of total recognised gains and losses.
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Consolidated income and expenditure account for the year ended 31 July 2008 Year ended 31 July 2008
Income Funding Council grants Academic fees and support grants Research grants and contracts Examination and assessment services Publishing and printing services Other income Endowment and investment income
Note
£m
Year ended 31 July 2007 Restated £m
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
202 77 243 216 174 103 59
183 68 211 193 153 86 54
1,074
948
Total income Expenditure Staff costs excluding exceptional item Exceptional staff costs Other operating expenses Depreciation Interest payable
8 8 9 9 9
467 14 513 60 1
435 – 462 48 1
Total expenditure
9
1,055
946
Surplus on continuing operations before donations of heritage assets and exceptional items
10
19
2
Donations of heritage assets
12
9
3
28
5
–
3
28
8
–
1
Surplus on continuing operations before exceptional items Exceptional items: gain on sale of tangible fixed assets Surplus on continuing operations after donations of heritage assets and exceptional items Minority interests in results of subsidiary undertakings Surplus on continuing operations after minority interest
11
28
9
Transfer from restricted endowments
25
14
16
Surplus for the year retained within general reserves
26
42
25
The income and expenditure account is in respect of continuing activities.
62
Note of historical cost result for the year ended 31 July 2008 Year ended 31 July 2008
Surplus on continuing operations Realisation of gains on disposal of fixed asset investments Depreciation on revaluation element of tangible fixed assets
Note
£m
Year ended 31 July 2007 Restated £m
26 26
28 27 6
9 16 6
61
31
Historical cost surplus for the year
Statement of total recognised gains and losses for the year ended 31 July 2008 Year ended 31 July 2008 £m
Year ended 31 July 2007 Restated £m
28
9
25 15, 26
(93) (46)
68 36
New endowment capital
25
36
47
Gain / (loss) arising on foreign currency translation
26
2
(2)
Actuarial (loss) / gain
26
(82)
51
(155)
209
26 21
24 18
47
42
(108)
251
1,938
1,735
(108)
251
1,830
1,986
Note
Surplus on income and expenditure account (Decrease) / increase in market value of investments Endowment assets Fixed asset investments
Total recognised (losses) / gains relating to the year Prior year adjustments: Endowments Reserves
Total (losses) / gains since the last annual report
12, 25 12, 26
Reconciliation Opening reserves and endowments as previously stated Total (losses) / gains since the last annual report Closing reserves and endowments
63
Balance sheets as at 31 July 2008 Group 31 July 2008
Fixed assets Tangible assets Intangible assets Investments
Endowment assets Current assets Stocks and work in progress Debtors Investments University Held on behalf of others Cash at bank and in hand
Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
University 31 July 2008
£m
Group 31 July 2007 Restated £m
£m
University 31 July 2007 Restated £m
1,041 4 369
983 6 408
1,032 3 284
979 5 311
1,414
1,397
1,319
1,295
16
857
928
681
736
17 18
46 196
47 170
37 200
42 170
19 19
222 5 47
230 5 24
150 142 31
182 136 13
516
476
560
543
(285)
(280)
(381)
(388)
231
196
179
155
2,502
2,521
2,179
2,186
(8) (158) (15)
(3) (79) –
(16) (43) (15)
(11) (19) –
2,321
2,439
2,105
2,156
Note
13 14 15
20
Net current assets Total assets less current liabilities Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year 21 Pension liabilities 22 Other retirement benefits liability 23 Total net assets Represented by: Deferred capital grants
24
491
453
491
453
Endowments Expendable endowments Permanent endowments
25 25
303 554
329 599
128 553
138 598
25
857
928
681
736
26 26 26
757 151 65
763 157 138
745 151 37
717 157 93
26
973
1,058
933
967
Reserves and endowments
1,830
1,986
1,614
1,703
Total
2,321
2,439
2,105
2,156
Reserves General reserves Operational property revaluation reserve Fixed asset investment revaluation reserve
The financial statements on pages 59 to 86 were approved by the Council on 24 November 2008 and signed on its behalf by: Professor Alison Richard Lord Simon of Highbury Andrew Reid Vice-Chancellor Member of Council Director of Finance
64
Consolidated cash flow statement for the year ended 31 July 2008 Year ended 31 July 2008 Note
£m
Year ended 31 July 2007 Restated £m
Net cash (outflow) / inflow from operating activities
27
(3)
4
Returns on investments and servicing of finance
28
57
53
Capital expenditure and financial investment
28
(20)
(61)
34
(4)
(11)
(6)
5
–
28
(10)
Increase / (decrease) in cash
28
(10)
Cash outflow from liquid resources
11
6
Movement in net funds in the year
39
(4)
Net funds at 1 August
22
26
61
22
Cash inflow / (outflow) before management of liquid resources and financing Management of liquid resources: Increase in short-term deposits Financing
28
Increase / (decrease) in cash in the year
Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net funds
Net funds at 31 July
29
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Notes to the accounts 1 Funding Council and Training and Development Agency grants Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) Recurrent grant Specific grants Deferred capital grant released in year (note 24) Equipment Buildings HEFCE total Training and Development Agency for Schools Recurrent grant
2 Academic fees and support grants Full-time home / EU students Full-time overseas (non-EU) students Part-time course fees Research Training Support Grants
3 Income: research grants and contracts Research councils UK based charities Other bodies
4 Examination and assessment services Examination fees Other examination and assessment services
5 Publishing and printing services Publishing services Printing services
6 Other income Other services rendered Health and hospital authorities Residences, catering and conferences Arts & Humanities Research Council museum grant University companies Released from deferred capital grants (note 24) General donations Rental income Sundry income
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2008 £m
2007 £m
172.0 12.4
162.1 10.2
5.9 8.7
4.4 3.1
199.0
179.8
3.2
3.4
202.2
183.2
34.8 36.2 5.6 0.7
27.4 31.0 8.6 0.8
77.3
67.8
112.3 68.6 62.2
93.2 60.6 57.7
243.1
211.5
203.0 12.8
180.0 12.7
215.8
192.7
158.8 15.3
146.8 6.4
174.1
153.2
Restated
25.3 11.0 7.6 1.7 16.8 8.8 11.0 5.8 14.6
23.3 10.8 8.1 1.7 12.1 5.1 8.8 4.7 10.9
102.6
85.5
Notes to the accounts (continued) 7 Endowment and investment income
Income from expendable endowment asset investments Income from permanent endowment asset investments Income from fixed asset investments Other investment income
8 Staff costs Wages and salaries Social security costs Pension costs (note 31) Exceptional item: post-retirement benefits attributable to past service (note 23)
Emoluments of the Vice-Chancellor Emoluments excluding employer’s pension contributions Employer’s pension contributions
2008 £m
2007 £m Restated
10.5 21.9 13.9 12.6
11.0 19.4 12.7 10.5
58.9
53.6
2008 £m
2007 £m
383.0 33.2 51.2
350.3 32.6 52.4
467.4
435.3
14.2
–
481.6
435.3
2008 £000
2007 £000
227 –
204 –
227
204
Remuneration of higher paid staff, excluding employer’s pension contributions: The numbers in each band have been analysed by segment (see note 11)
£100,001 – £110,000 £110,001 – £120,000 £120,001 – £130,000 £130,001 – £140,000 £140,001 – £150,000 £150,001 – £160,000 £160,001 – £170,000 £170,001 – £180,000 £180,001 – £190,000 £190,001 – £200,000 £200,001 – £210,000 £210,001 – £220,000 £220,001 – £230,000 £230,001 – £240,000 £240,001 – £250,000 £250,001 – £260,000 £260,001 – £270,000
Education and research Clinical Non-Clinical
Assessment and Press
2008 Total
2007 Total
28 15 7 3 3 4 3 2 – 1 – – 1 – – – –
4 7 4 2 – 3 – – – 1 – – – – – – 1
46 28 16 13 14 18 6 5 5 6 2 – 2 – – – 1
35 15 15 13 10 12 2 5 6 2 3 1 – – 1 – –
14 6 5 8 11 11 3 3 5 4 2 – 1 – – – –
The above statistics include additional payments to employees of the University on behalf of NHS bodies.
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Notes to the accounts (continued) 9 Analysis of expenditure by activity
Depreciation
Interest payable
2008 Total
2007 Restated
£m
Other operating expenses £m
£m
£m
£m
£m
163.2 19.7 – 106.8
29.4 9.1 36.0 89.3
10.3 0.6 – 8.4
– – – –
202.9 29.4 36.0 204.5
186.3 27.5 34.7 182.1
54.4 74.1 7.8 3.6 3.0
125.8 110.0 15.3 12.2 7.3
5.8 3.0 0.1 0.1 0.1
– 0.5 – – –
186.0 187.6 23.2 15.9 10.4
176.2 153.3 22.5 10.3 10.6
142.9
270.6
9.1
0.5
423.1
372.9
Administration General educational Staff and student facilities Development office Other
28.9 3.3 3.0 2.3 1.0
8.7 30.4 0.5 3.5 1.4
1.9 0.1 – – –
– – – – –
39.5 33.8 3.5 5.8 2.4
33.5 28.3 3.3 4.8 4.7
Administration and central services total Premises
38.5 10.5
44.5 34.4
2.0 29.3
– –
85.0 74.2
74.6 67.5
481.6
513.3
59.7
0.5
1,055.1
945.6
Academic departments Academic services Payments to Colleges (see note 34) Research grants and contracts Other activities:
Staff costs
Examinations and assessment services Publishing and printing services Other services rendered University companies Residences, catering and conferences Other activities total Administration and central services:
Total per income and expenditure account The depreciation charge has been funded by: Deferred capital grants (note 24) Revaluation reserve (note 26) General income
31.7 6.0 22.0 59.7
Auditors’ remuneration Other operating expenses include: Audit fees payable to the University’s external auditors in respect of the audit of the University’s financial statements Other fees payable to the University’s external auditors Audit fees payable to other firms These amounts include related irrecoverable VAT.
68
2008 £000
2007 £000
225 174 354
221 27 391
Notes to the accounts (continued) 10 Surplus on continuing operations
2008 £m
2007 £m Restated
The surplus on continuing operations before donations of heritage assets and exceptional items for the year is made up as follows: University’s surplus for the year Surplus generated by subsidiary undertakings and transferred to the University under gift aid
11.5 1.2
5.8 1.6
Surplus dealt with in the accounts of the University Group level adjustments re defined benefit schemes Surplus retained in subsidiary undertakings
12.7 2.8 12.0
7.4 (4.2) 5.1
27.5
8.3
11 Segmental reporting The group consisting of the University and its subsidiary undertakings has three principal classes of activity: Education and research Assessment
Examination and assessment services, carried out by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate and subsidiary undertakings, collectively known as Cambridge Assessment.
Press Publishing and printing services, carried out by the Cambridge University Press Syndicate and subsidiary undertakings Income, result for the year and net assets at the year end are attributable to the three segments as follows: Segment total income £m
Intersegment income £m
Income from third parties £m
685.8 221.5 186.4
11.0 – 10.5
674.8 221.5 175.9
13.7 24.6 (11.6)
2,183.4 190.5 61.5
1,093.7
21.5
1,072.2
26.7
2,435.4
1.8
–
1.8
0.8
(114.7)
1,095.5
21.5
1,074.0
27.5
2,320.7
Year ended 31 July 2007 (restated) Education and research Assessment Press
604.8 197.1 165.1
9.3 – 9.1
595.5 197.1 156.0
(3.0) 14.4 2.2
2,221.4 176.8 98.5
Unallocated re Contributory Pension Scheme
967.0 (1.1)
18.4 –
948.6 (1.1)
13.6 (4.5)
2,496.7 (58.6)
Group
965.9
18.4
947.5
9.1
2,438.1
Year ended 31 July 2008 Education and research Assessment Press
Unallocated re Contributory Pension Scheme Group
Surplus / (deficit)
Net assets
£m
£m
69
Notes to the accounts (continued) 12 Prior year adjustments The University has changed its accounting policies in two respects: a In previous years donations for restricted purposes, other than those to be spent on tangible fixed assets and those to be invested for the longer term, were included in current liabilities on receipt and released into income to match expenditure. These were referred to as specific donations. In accordance with the requirements of the SORP, all such donations are now credited to expendable restricted endowments on receipt. b In previous years donations of, and for the acquisition of, heritage assets, were credited to deferred capital grants. In view of the non-depreciation of heritage assets, the accounting policy has been reviewed and such donations are now credited to the income and expenditure account in the period of acquisition of the related asset. Comparative figures have been restated to reflect the revised accounting policies. The effect of the prior year adjustments on the result for the year is as follows. 2008 £m
2007 £m
31.7 (12.8) 8.6
16.4 (10.7) 3.4
27.5
9.1
Group 2008 £m
Group 2007 £m
(29.4) 29.4 29.4
(20.8) 26.7 20.8
Net increase in net assets Net assets under previous accounting policies
29.4 2,291.3
26.7 2,411.4
28.4 2,076.3
25.7 2,130.3
Net assets as restated
2,320.7
2,438.1
2,104.7
2,156.0
Surplus for the year under previous accounting policies Specific donations classified as endowments Donations of heritage assets Surplus before transfer from restricted endowments as stated The effect of these changes on net assets is as follows:
Reduction in deferred capital grants Increase in endowments Increase in reserves
70
University 2008 £m (29.4) 28.4 29.4
University 2007 £m (20.8) 25.7 20.8
Notes to the accounts (continued) 13 Tangible fixed assets Group Cost or valuation At 1 August Additions at cost Transfers Disposals Currency adjustments
Land and Assets in Equipment buildings construction £m £m £m
Heritage assets £m
2008 Total £m
2007 Total £m
1,007.9 4.2 53.7 (0.6) 0.4
44.3 64.0 (53.7) – –
198.0 42.0 – (19.6) 0.2
21.4 8.9 – – –
1,271.6 119.1 – (20.2) 0.6
1,209.1 108.1 – (44.8) (1.7)
1,065.6
54.6
220.6
30.3
1,371.1
1,270.7
Depreciation At 1 August Charge for the year Elimination on disposals Currency adjustments
153.3 32.0 (0.5) 0.1
– – – –
135.4 27.7 (18.4) 0.6
– – – –
288.7 59.7 (18.9) 0.7
278.3 48.0 (38.1) (0.4)
At 31 July
184.9
–
145.3
–
330.2
287.8
Net book value At 31 July
880.7
54.6
75.3
30.3
1,040.9
982.9
854.6
44.3
62.6
21.4
982.9
930.8
University Cost or valuation At 1 August Additions at cost Transfers Disposals Currency adjustments
1,000.2 4.4 53.7 (0.6) 0.4
44.5 63.1 (53.7) – –
192.7 39.6 – (30.1) 0.1
21.4 8.9 – – –
1,258.8 116.0 – (30.7) 0.5
1,196.8 105.2 – (41.4) (1.8)
At 31 July
1,058.1
53.9
202.3
30.3
1,344.6
1,258.8
Depreciation At 1 August Charge for the year Elimination on disposals Currency adjustments
149.1 31.6 (0.5) 0.1
– – – –
131.3 26.5 (25.5) 0.1
– – – –
280.4 58.1 (26.0) 0.2
270.4 47.2 (36.8) (0.4)
At 31 July
180.3
–
132.4
–
312.7
280.4
Net book value At 31 July
877.8
53.9
69.9
30.3
1,031.9
978.4
851.1
44.5
61.4
21.4
978.4
926.4
At 31 July
At 1 August
At 1 August
Land and buildings includes freehold land totalling £75.1m (2007: £75.1m) which is not depreciated. The net book value of land and buildings at the year end on a historical cost basis would be: Group £729.3m (2007: £697.2m); University £726.4m (2007 £693.7m). All other tangible fixed assets are stated at cost less accumulated depreciation. The cost to the group of freehold buildings and assets in construction consists of the cost incurred by the University less the surplus recorded in the accounts of Lynxvale Limited, a subsidiary undertaking, and eliminated on consolidation. The University holds and conserves certain collections, artefacts and other assets of historical, artistic or scientific importance. Most of these are housed in the University’s nationally accredited museums and collections and in its libraries, providing a valuable research and educational resource locally, nationally and internationally as well as an unrivalled opportunity to present the University’s work to a wide audience. Other collections are held in academic departments or are on display as public art. Major collections include those held by the University Library, a legal deposit, the Botanic Garden and the Fitzwilliam Museum. 71
Notes to the accounts (continued) 14 Intangible fixed assets: goodwill and others
Opening balance Amortisation charge for the year Currency adjustments Closing balance
Group 2008 £m
Group 2007 £m
University 2008 £m
University 2007 £m
5.7 (1.8) (0.1)
8.0 (2.2) (0.1)
5.0 (1.5) –
6.8 (1.7) (0.1)
3.8
5.7
3.5
5.0
15 Fixed asset investments
Restated
Restated
Opening balance as previously stated Reclassification of holdings formerly included as current asset investments
413.1
369.6
316.3
291.7
(5.1)
(4.6)
(5.2)
(4.6)
Restated opening balance Net additions in the year (Decrease) / increase in market value of investments
408.0 7.3 (45.8)
365.0 6.9 36.0
311.1 5.2 (32.5)
287.1 6.5 17.5
Closing balance
369.5
407.9
283.8
311.1
Represented by: Property Securities Money market investments Investments in subsidiary undertakings Investment in spin-out companies (see note 32) Cash in hand and at investment managers Investments in joint ventures Other
68.3 210.7 79.9 – 10.3 – 0.1 0.2
64.6 298.3 31.1 – 10.4 3.2 0.1 0.2
61.8 136.3 66.0 17.2 2.2 – 0.1 0.2
55.9 204.2 24.9 21.2 2.2 2.5 – 0.2
369.5
407.9
283.8
311.1
Following the change in accounting policy referred to in note 12 (a) above, long term investments held for specific donations, which were in previous years included in fixed asset investments, have been reclassified as endowment assets. 16 Endowment assets Long-term Investments Property Securities Money market investments Loan to subsidiary undertaking Cash in hand and at investment managers Investment in spin-out companies (see note 32)
Restated
Restated
84.4 549.2 216.2 – 4.9
99.3 700.4 104.7 – 20.5
68.2 399.6 210.0 2.5 1.0
88.8 541.8 93.1 2.6 10.1
854.7 2.3
924.9 2.6
681.3 –
736.4 –
857.0
927.5
681.3
736.4
Included in the Group’s endowment assets is £165.9m (2007: £179.6m) relating to the Gates Cambridge Trust. The use of these assets is restricted to supporting the University by enabling persons from any part of the world outside the United Kingdom to benefit from education in the University by the provision of scholarships and grants and otherwise. The assets of the Gates Cambridge Trust are therefore not available for the general purposes of the University. 72
Notes to the accounts (continued) 17 Stocks and work in progress
Goods for resale Work in progress Other stocks
Group 2008 £m
Group 2007 £m
University 2008 £m
University 2007 £m
37.3 8.0 0.4
40.0 7.1 0.3
30.6 6.4 –
36.3 5.3 0.3
45.7
47.4
37.0
41.9
62.3 – 48.4 51.2 33.6
54.7 – 43.8 41.8 29.2
62.3 32.2 38.4 68.0 (1.2)
54.7 20.9 34.7 52.6 7.3
195.5
169.5
199.7
170.2
0.3 1.5 208.0 17.2
0.8 2.2 225.7 6.3
7.0 39.5 228.2 17.2
10.0 56.6 242.9 8.0
227.0
235.0
291.9
317.5
222.2
229.9
150.3
181.5
4.8
5.1
141.6
136.0
227.0
235.0
291.9
317.5
18 Debtors Research grants recoverable Amounts due from subsidiary undertakings Debtors re examination and assessment services Debtors re publishing and printing Other debtors
19 Current asset investments Property Securities Money market investments Short-term deposits
Representing: University Held on behalf of subsidiary undertakings, related parties and other associated bodies (see note 20)
Current asset investments include investments held on behalf of subsidiary undertakings, related parties and other associated bodies. The book value of these investments is included in creditors due within one year. Following the change in accounting policy referred to in note 12 (a) above, money market investments and short-term deposits held for specific donations, which were in previous years included in current asset investments, have been reclassified as endowment assets.
73
Notes to the accounts (continued) 20 Creditors: amounts falling due within one year
Group 2008 £m
Group 2007 £m
University 2008 £m
University 2007 £m Restated
Bank overdraft Research grants received in advance Amounts due to subsidiary undertakings Creditors re examination and assessment services Creditors re publishing and printing Other creditors Investments held on behalf of subsidiary undertakings, related parties and other associated bodies (see note 19)
3.3 84.7 – 37.4 49.6 104.8
8.6 79.1 – 46.8 47.3 93.2
1.9 84.7 22.6 19.4 45.7 65.5
7.7 79.1 11.9 27.8 47.2 78.1
4.8
5.1
141.6
136.0
284.6
280.1
381.4
387.8
– 5.1 2.7
– – 2.7
10.6 5.1 –
10.6 – –
7.8
2.7
15.7
10.6
21 Creditors: amounts falling due after more than one year Amounts due to subsidiary undertakings Bank loans Loan from minority interest
22 Pension liabilities The pension liabilities have been measured in accordance with the requirements of FRS 17 and relate to the defined benefit schemes disclosed in note 31.
74
Opening balance Movement in year: Current service cost including life assurance Contributions Other finance (income) / cost Currency adjustments Actuarial loss / (gain) recognised in statement of total recognised gains and losses
79.3
127.0
19.4
27.0
18.4 (20.7) (1.8) –
22.3 (19.5) 0.3 –
3.9 (5.1) (0.1) –
6.2 (6.6) (0.7) (0.1)
82.8
(50.8)
25.2
(6.4)
Closing balance
158.0
79.3
43.3
19.4
Notes to the accounts (continued) 23 Other retirement benefits liability
2008 £m
Group and University The liability has been measured in accordance with the requirements of FRS 17 and relates to unfunded postretirement medical and insurance schemes. Liability at 31 July 2007 previously omitted (see note 8) Movement attributable to the year: Current service cost including life assurance Contributions Other finance cost Actuarial gain recognised in statement of total recognised gains and losses
14.2
Closing balance
14.8
24 Deferred capital grants Group and University Balance 1 August Buildings Equipment Heritage assets Prior year adjustment re heritage assets (see note 12) Restated opening balance Grants received Buildings Equipment
Released to income and expenditure Buildings – for depreciation Equipment – for depreciation Equipment – on disposals
Balance 31 July Buildings Equipment
0.5 (0.2) 0.8 (0.5)
Funding Council £m
Research Grants £m
Other Grants £m
2008 Total £m
2007 Restated £m
143.0 12.0 –
– 15.7 –
279.8 2.0 20.8
422.8 29.7 20.8
392.2 27.3 17.4
–
–
(20.8)
(20.8)
(17.4)
155.0
15.7
281.8
452.5
419.5
30.8 7.9
– 9.8
21.1 0.6
51.9 18.3
37.5 19.0
38.7
9.8
21.7
70.2
56.5
(8.7) (5.9) (0.2)
– (8.3) (0.4)
(7.4) (1.4) –
(16.1) (15.6) (0.6)
(6.9) (15.0) (1.6)
(14.8)
(8.7)
(8.8)
(32.3)
(23.5)
165.1 13.8
– 16.8
293.5 1.2
458.6 31.8
422.8 29.7
178.9
16.8
294.7
490.4
452.5
75
Notes to the accounts (continued) 25 Endowments
Expendable £m
Permanent £m
2008 Total £m
2007 Total £m Restated
76
Group Balance 1 August As previously stated Prior year adjustment (see note 12)
301.8 26.7
599.0 –
900.8 26.7
804.1 24.0
Restated opening balance New endowments received
328.5 20.2
599.0 16.0
927.5 36.2
828.1 47.2
Income receivable from endowment asset investments Expenditure
10.4 (29.4)
21.9 (16.7)
32.3 (46.1)
30.5 (46.1)
Net transfer (to) / from income and expenditure account (Decrease) / increase in market value of investments
(19.0) (26.3)
5.2 (66.6)
(13.8) (92.9)
(15.6) 67.8
Balance 31 July
303.4
553.6
857.0
927.5
Capital Unspent income
296.2 7.2
490.7 62.9
786.9 70.1
855.7 71.8
Balance 31 July
303.4
553.6
857.0
927.5
Representing: Trust and Special Funds: Professorships, Readerships and Lectureships Scholarships and bursaries Other Specific donations Examination Board restricted funds Gates Cambridge Trust Other subsidiary undertakings General endowments
28.8 4.1 59.2 28.3 7.6 165.8 9.6 –
268.6 69.9 207.3 – – – 0.3 7.5
297.4 74.0 266.5 28.3 7.6 165.8 9.9 7.5
321.1 80.4 286.0 25.7 12.3 179.6 14.1 8.3
Group total
303.4
553.6
857.0
927.5
University Balance 1 August As previously stated Prior year adjustment (see note 12)
112.2 25.7
598.5 –
710.7 25.7
629.8 23.2
Restated opening balance New endowments received
137.9 16.3
598.5 16.0
736.4 32.3
653.0 43.4
Income receivable from endowment asset investments Expenditure
4.9 (19.2)
21.8 (16.4)
26.7 (35.6)
23.9 (36.9)
Net transfer (to) / from income and expenditure account (Decrease) / increase in market value of investments
(14.3) (11.8)
5.4 (66.7)
(8.9) (78.5)
(13.0) 53.0
Balance 31 July
128.1
553.2
681.3
736.4
Capital Unspent income
122.3 5.8
490.1 63.1
612.4 68.9
666.6 69.8
Balance 31 July
128.1
553.2
681.3
736.4
Notes to the accounts (continued) 26 Reserves
Group Balance 1 August As previously stated Prior year adjustments (see note 12): Donations of heritage assets Fixed asset investment revaluation reserve
General Operational reserves property revaluation reserve £m £m
Fixed asset investment revaluation reserve £m
2008 Total
2007 Total
£m
£m Restated
740.9
157.4
139.1
1,037.4
930.9
20.8 1.3
– –
– (1.3)
20.8 –
17.4 –
Restated opening balance Surplus retained for the year Actuarial (loss) / gain Transfer in respect of depreciation on revalued operational properties Transfer in respect of disposals of fixed asset investments Gain / (loss) arising on foreign currency translation (Decrease) / increase in market value of investments
763.0 41.3 (82.3)
157.4 – –
137.8 – –
1,058.2 41.3 (82.3)
948.3 24.7 50.8
6.0
(6.0)
–
–
–
26.7 2.0 –
– – –
(26.7) – (45.9)
– 2.0 (45.9)
– (1.9) 36.3
Balance 31 July
756.7
151.4
65.2
973.3
1,058.2
929.5
151.4
65.2
1,146.1
1,137.5
(158.0) (14.8)
– –
– –
(158.0) (14.8)
(79.3) –
756.7
151.4
65.2
973.3
1,058.2
694.7
157.4
94.2
946.3
907.1
20.8 1.3
– –
– (1.3)
20.8 –
17.4 –
Restated opening balance Surplus retained for the year Actuarial (loss) / gain Transfer in respect of depreciation on revalued operational properties Transfer in respect of disposals of fixed asset investments Gain / (loss) arising on foreign currency translation (Decrease) / increase in market value of investments
716.8 21.5 (24.7)
157.4 – –
92.9 – –
967.1 21.5 (24.7)
924.5 20.4 6.4
6.0
(6.0)
–
–
–
23.5 1.6 –
– – –
(23.5) – (32.5)
– 1.6 (32.5)
– (2.1) 17.9
Balance 31 July
744.7
151.4
36.9
933.0
967.1
Reserves are reduced by the net liabilities in respect of retirement benefits Reserves before net liabilities in respect of retirement benefits Effect of net pension liability (see note 22) Effect of liability for other retirement benefits (see note 23) Reserves balance at 31 July University Balance 1 August As previously stated Prior year adjustments (see note 12): Donations of heritage assets Fixed asset investment revaluation reserve
77
Notes to the accounts (continued) 27 Reconciliation of consolidated operating surplus to net cash (outflow) / inflow from operating activities
2008 £m
2007 £m Restated
Surplus on continuing operations before donations of heritage assets and gain on disposal of tangible fixed assets Depreciation of fixed tangible assets Amortisation of goodwill Deferred capital grants released to income Investment income Interest payable Pension cost less contributions payable (see note 22) Other retirement benefits – cost less contributions payable (see note 23) Currency adjustments
18.9 59.7 1.8 (31.7) (58.9) 0.5 (2.3) 15.3 2.3
1.9 48.0 2.2 (21.9) (53.6) 0.5 2.8 – (0.5)
Decrease / (increase) in stock (Increase) / decrease in debtors Increase in creditors
5.6 1.7 (26.0) 16.0
(20.6) (8.8) 5.8 27.4
(2.7)
3.8
Net cash (outflow) / inflow from operating activities
28 Cash flows
2008 £m
2007 £m Restated
Returns on investments and servicing of finance Endowment and investment income received Interest paid
57.1 (0.5)
53.9 (0.5)
Net cash inflow from returns on investments and servicing of finance
56.6
53.4
(116.1) – 70.2 0.6
(107.2) – 56.5 8.2
(11.2) 36.2
(66.0) 47.2
(20.3)
(61.3)
Financing Issue of share capital to minority interest Bank loan acquired Repayment of long-term loan
– 4.8 –
0.7 – (0.5)
Net cash inflow / (outflow) from financing
4.8
0.2
Capital expenditure and financial investment Purchase of tangible fixed assets Acquisition of goodwill and other intangible fixed assets Donations for buildings and other deferred capital grants received Proceeds of disposal of tangible fixed assets Net purchase of long-term investments (excluding investments held on behalf of others) New endowments received Net cash outflow from capital expenditure and financial investment
78
Notes to the accounts (continued) 29 Analysis of the balances of cash and bank overdraft
Group 2008 £m
Group 2007 £m
University 2008 £m
Restated
Bank overdrafts Cash at bank and in hand
University 2007 £m Restated
(3.3) 46.5
(8.6) 24.3
(1.9) 30.8
(7.7) 13.3
43.2
15.7
28.9
5.6
Add short term deposits: Current asset investments (excluding those held on behalf of related parties and other associated bodies)
17.2
6.3
17.2
8.0
Net funds
60.4
22.0
46.1
13.6
2008 £m
2007 £m
138.6
64.7
–
–
30 Capital commitments Commitments contracted at 31 July Authorised but not contracted at 31 July
Of the capital expenditure committed at 31 July 2008, approximately 86% (2007: 63%) will be funded by specific grants and donations. 31 Pension schemes The two principal pension schemes for the University’s staff are the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and the Cambridge University Assistants’ Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS). Cambridge University Press operates two defined benefit schemes for its UK staff, the Press Contributory Pension Fund (PCPF) and the Press Senior Staff Pension Scheme (PSSPS). Employees covered by the schemes are contracted out of the State Second Pension. The assets of the schemes are held in separate trustee-administered funds. The USS and the CPS are not closed, nor is the age profile of their active membership rising significantly. The PCPF and the PSSPS have been closed to new members. The schemes are defined benefit schemes which are valued every three years using the projected unit method, by professionally qualified actuaries, the rates of contribution payable being determined by the trustees on the advice of the actuaries. USS It is not possible to identify each institution’s share of underlying assets and liabilities of the scheme, and therefore contributions are accounted for as if it were a defined contribution scheme in accordance with FRS 17. The assumptions and other data that have the most significant effect on the determination of the contribution levels are as follows: Latest actuarial valuation Investment returns per annum Salary scale increases per annum Pension increases per annum Mortality– equivalent life expectancy for members reaching retirement age of 65: Males Females Market value of assets at date of last valuation Proportion of members’ accrued benefits covered by the actuarial value of the assets
March 2005 4.50% 3.90% 2.90% 85 88 £21,740m 77%
The contribution rate payable by the institution is 14% of pensionable salaries. The results of the next actuarial valuation at 31 March 2008 are awaited. 79
Notes to the accounts (continued) 31 Pension schemes (continued) Cambridge University Assistants’ Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) The CPS was established under the authority of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge Act 1923. It is a registered pension scheme for the purposes of Finance Act 2004. The active members of the scheme are employees of the University and its subsidiary undertakings. Triennial valuation of the scheme A full triennial valuation of the scheme was carried out by the actuary for the trustees of the scheme for funding purposes as at 31 July 2006. The results showed the actuarial value of the scheme’s assets as £276.8m. These were insufficient to cover the scheme’s past service liabilities of £285.0m and as a result the scheme had a deficit of £8.2m and was 97% funded. The joint contribution rate has been set at 25.7% of pensionable pay from 1 August 2005. CPS: Pension costs under FRS 17 For accounting purposes the scheme’s assets are measured at market value and liabilities are valued using the projected unit method and discounted using the gross redemption yield for corporate AA rated bonds. The valuation uses market-based assumptions and asset valuations, and represents a current valuation. It does not impact on the joint contribution rate set by the trustees of the scheme. The principal assumptions used by the actuary were:
Discount rate Expected rate of return on scheme assets at beginning of year Equities and hedge funds Bonds (including cash) Property Rate of increase in salaries Rate of increase in pensions in deferment Rate of increase in pensions in payment Age at retirement: Males – active Males – deferred Females – active Females – deferred Mortality – equivalent life expectancy for members reaching retirement age: Males Females
2008
2007
6.40%
5.80%
8.00% 5.30% 7.00% 4.55% 3.80% 3.80%
7.50% 4.70% 6.50% 4.00% 3.25% 3.25%
63 61 61 60
63 61 61 60
85 88
84 87
The following results were measured in accordance with the requirements of FRS 17, based on the assumptions summarised above: Present value of defined benefit obligation 2008 2007 £m £m
80
Fair value of scheme assets 2008 2007 £m £m
Net liability recognised in the balance sheet 2008 2007 £m £m
Opening Service cost Employer contributions Expected return on scheme assets Contributions by members Interest cost Actuarial (losses) / gains Benefits and expenses paid
(372.5) (14.4) – – (4.3) (21.7) (5.7) 13.1
(374.6) (16.0) – – (4.0) (19.6) 28.8 12.9
313.9 – 13.4 23.5 4.3 – (51.2) (13.1)
276.8 – 12.6 18.5 4.0 – 14.9 (12.9)
(58.6) (14.4) 13.4 23.5 – (21.7) (56.9) –
(97.8) (16.0) 12.6 18.5 – (19.6) 43.7 –
Closing defined benefit obligation
(405.5)
(372.5)
290.8
313.9
(114.7)
(58.6)
Notes to the accounts (continued) 31 Pension schemes (continued) The amounts recognised in the income and expenditure account were as follows:
2008 £m
2007 £m
In staff costs: current service cost In endowment and investment income: Expected return on pension scheme assets Interest on pension scheme liabilities
14.4
16.0
23.5 (21.7)
18.5 (19.6)
1.8
(1.1)
Amounts for the current and previous four years were as follows: 2008 £m
2007 £m
2006 £m
2005 £m
2004 £m
Defined benefit obligation Plan assets
(405.5) 290.8
(372.5) 313.9
(374.6) 276.8
(331.8) 249.0
(279.4) 208.9
Deficit at the balance sheet date
(114.7)
(58.6)
(97.8)
(82.8)
(70.5)
(1.3)
(4.1)
(7.2)
0.2
(0.8)
(51.2)
14.9
5.8
22.2
(1.2)
Experience (losses) / gains for the year on plan liabilities Experience (losses) / gains for the year on plan assets
T he above results have been recognised in the consolidated balance sheet. The University is, however, unable to identify its own share of the underlying assets and liabilities in the scheme, as distinct from that attributable to subsidiary undertakings, on a reasonable and consistent basis. For the University itself, therefore, pension costs are accounted for as if the CPS were a defined contribution scheme, and the University’s own balance sheet does not include a pension liability in respect of the CPS.
Cambridge University Press UK defined benefit schemes (PCPF and PSSPS) Triennial valuation of the schemes Full triennial valuations of the schemes were carried out by the actuary for the trustees of the schemes for funding purposes as at 1 January 2007. Pension costs under FRS 17 For accounting purposes the schemes’ assets are measured at market value and liabilities are valued using the attained age method and discounted using the gross redemption yield for corporate AA rated bonds. The valuations use market-based assumptions and asset valuations, and represent current valuations. They do not impact on the joint contribution rates set by the trustees of the schemes. Full actuarial valuations for this purpose were carried out as at 1 January 2007 by a qualified actuary. The actuary has also updated the 2007 accounting valuation to 31 July 2007 and 31 July 2008 for the purposes of the University’s financial statements. The principal assumptions used by the actuary for both schemes were: Discount rate Expected rate of return on scheme assets at beginning of year Rate of increase in salaries – schemes are now on frozen current salary basis Rate of increase in pensions in deferment Rate of increase in pensions in payment Age at retirement: PSSPS – males – active All others Mortality – equivalent life expectancy for members reaching retirement age: Males Females
2008
2007
6.40% 6.25% 0.00% 3.80% 3.80%
5.75% 6.25% 0.00% 3.50% 3.50%
59 60
59 60
88 90
84 87 81
Notes to the accounts (continued) 31 Pension schemes (continued) The following results were measured in accordance with the requirements of FRS 17, based on the assumptions summarised above: Present value of defined benefit obligation 2008 2007 £m £m
Fair value of scheme assets 2008 2007 £m £m
Net liability recognised in the balance sheet 2008 2007 £m £m
Opening Service cost Employer contributions Expected return on scheme assets Contributions by members Interest cost Actuarial (losses) / gains Benefits and expenses paid
(181.4) (3.4) – – (0.7) (10.4) (5.3) 8.9
(174.9) (5.5) – – (0.7) (8.7) 1.6 6.8
163.1 – 4.7 10.3 0.7 – (18.5) (8.9)
149.1 – 5.9 9.3 0.7 – 4.9 (6.8)
(18.3) (3.4) 4.7 10.3 – (10.4) (23.8) –
(25.8) (5.5) 5.9 9.3 – (8.7) 6.5 –
Closing defined benefit obligation
(192.3)
(181.4)
151.4
163.1
(40.9)
(18.3)
2008 £m
2007 £m
The amounts recognised in the income and expenditure account were as follows: In staff costs: current service cost In endowment and investment income: Expected return on pension scheme assets Interest on pension scheme liabilities
3.4
5.5
10.3 (10.4)
9.3 (8.7)
(0.1)
0.6
Amounts for the current and previous three years were as follows::
Defined benefit obligation Plan assets Deficit at the balance sheet date Experience losses for the year on plan liabilities Experience (losses) / gains for the year on plan assets
82
2008 £m
2007 £m
2006 £m
2005 £m
(192.3) 151.4
(181.4) 163.1
(174.9) 149.1
(159.8) 131.6
(40.9)
(18.3)
(25.8)
(28.2)
(5.3)
(3.8)
(0.4)
(2.0)
(20.0)
5.2
8.3
15.1
Notes to the accounts (continued) 31 Pension schemes (continued) The University also has a smaller number of staff in other pension schemes, including the National Health Service Pension Scheme (NHSPS), the Cambridge University Press Defined Benefit Plan (CUPDBP, for US staff) and the RSA Examinations Board scheme (RSAEBS). Pension costs relating to CUPDBP and RSAEBS are accounted for in accordance with FRS 17 as applied to a defined benefit scheme and the related pension liability is included in the consolidated balance sheet (see note 22). Further disclosures are not given as the balances and movements are not material. The total pension cost for the year (see note 8) was:
2008 £m
2007 £m
USS: contributions CPS: charged to income and expenditure account PCPF: charged to income and expenditure account PSSPS: charged to income and expenditure account NHSPS: contributions CUPDBP: charged to income and expenditure account RSAEBS: charged to income and expenditure account Contributions to other pension schemes
29.3 14.4 2.6 0.8 1.6 0.5 0.2 1.8
27.3 16.0 4.3 1.2 1.5 0.6 0.2 1.3
51.2
52.4
83
Notes to the accounts (continued) 32 Principal subsidiary and associated undertakings and other significant investments The following undertakings were wholly-owned subsidiary undertakings throughout the year ended 31 July 2008. Except where stated, the accounting reference date is 31 July and the undertaking is a company registered in England and Wales. Name
Notes Principal activity
Cambridge Enterprise Limited Cambridge Investment Limited Cambridge Manufacturing Industry Links Limited
Consultancy and commercial exploitation of intellectual property Land development Consultancy and commercial exploitation of intellectual property
Cambridge Programme for Industry (Australia) a Cambridge University Technical Services Limited Challenge Fund Trading Company Limited Fitzwilliam Museum Enterprises Limited b JBS Executive Education Limited Lynxvale Limited The Cambridge Foundation c
Sustainability leadership programmes Consultancy and commercial exploitation of intellectual property Providing funds to promote the transfer of research to business Publication of fine art books and sale of museum merchandise Corporate education services Provision of construction and development services Fund raising
Associated Trusts
c
Cambridge Overseas Trust Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Gates Cambridge Trust Cambridge European Trust Malaysian Commonwealth Studies Centre in Cambridge
Provision of scholarships, grants and other support for the education of overseas students in the University
Cambridge Assessment subsidiary undertakings Cambridge Examinations Inc d Mill Wharf Limited Oxford and Cambridge International Assessment Services Limited Oxford Cambridge and RSA Examinations RSA Examinations Board Sandonian Properties Limited The West Midlands Examinations Board
Examination services Training and consultancy Assessment services Examination and assessment services Assessment services Property holding Examination services
Cambridge University Press subsidiary undertakings e Cambridge Global Grid for Learning Limited Cambridge Knowledge (China) Limited f Cambridge Printing Services Limited Cambridge University Press (Greece) EPE g Cambridge University Press (Holdings) Limited Cambridge University Press India Private Limited h Cambridge University Press Japan KK i Cambridge University Press South Africa (Proprietary) Limited j Cambridge-Hitachisoft Educational Solutions PLC k ELT Trading SA DE CV l United Publishers Services Limited f
84
Electronic educational publishing Representative office Printing services Representative office Holding company Publishing and distribution Representative office Publishing and distribution Electronic educational publishing Representative office Distribution
Notes to the accounts (continued) 32 Principal subsidiary and associated undertakings and other significant investments (continued) a Cambridge Programme for Industry (Australia) is incorporated in Australia and has an accounting reference date of 30 June for commercial reasons. The effect of this is not material to the consolidated accounts. b Fitzwilliam Museum Enterprises Limited has an accounting reference date of 31 January for commercial reasons. The effect of this is not material to the consolidated accounts. c The Cambridge Foundation and the Associated Trusts are exempt charities established by trust deeds. d Cambridge Examinations Inc is a United States non-stock non-profit corporation. e Cambridge University Press subsidiary undertakings have an accounting reference date of 30 April for commercial reasons. f Cambridge Knowledge (China) Limited and United Publishers Services Limited are incorporated in Hong Kong. g Cambridge University Press (Greece) EPE is incorporated in Greece. h Cambridge University Press India Private Limited is a 51% subsidiary incorporated in India. i Cambridge University Press Japan KK is incorporated in Japan. j Cambridge University Press South Africa (Proprietary) Limited is incorporated in South Africa. k The University holds 60% of the issued share capital in Cambridge-Hitachisoft Educational Solutions PLC. l ELT Trading SA DE CV is incorporated in Mexico. The University has interests in a number of spin-out companies formed to exploit intellectual property rights or inventions. These are included at valuation in fixed asset investments (see note 15) and endowment assets (note 16). In some cases the University’s interest amounts to 20% or more of the share capital, and these companies are listed below. As the University does not exercise a significant influence over these investments and they are not intended to be held for the long-term, they are not accounted for as associated undertakings. Other undertakings where the University’s investment amounts to 20% or more are also listed below. These are not accounted for as associated undertakings as the effect on the financial statements would not be material. Name Ampika Limited Bluegnome Limited BSCR Limited Cambridge Flow Solutions Limited Cambridge in America Cambridge Lab-on-Chip Limited Camfridge Limited Enval Limited Inotec AMD Limited Markready Limited Microbial Technics Limited The CRISP Consortium Limited Vivamer Limited
% interest 40 21 22 20 22 32 23 26 23 33 23 45 58
Principal Activity Commercial exploitation of intellectual property Commercial exploitation of intellectual property Commercial exploitation of intellectual property Commercial exploitation of intellectual property Fund raising Commercial exploitation of intellectual property Commercial exploitation of intellectual property Commercial exploitation of intellectual property Commercial exploitation of intellectual property Research and development Commercial exploitation of intellectual property Commercial exploitation of intellectual property Commercial exploitation of intellectual property
In addition, the University is one of two equal members of Cambridge-MIT Institute Limited (CMI), a joint venture company limited by guarantee whose principal activity was the support of research and educational programmes. The company ceased its activities in the year ended 31 July 2008, during which it funded expenditure of £0.1m (2007: £4.2m), including reimbursements to the University totalling nil (2007: £1.9m), and its profit after tax was nil (2007: nil). At 31 July 2008 and 2007 CMI had nil net assets. 33 Related party transactions In accordance with FRS 8 the University is not required to disclose the transactions and balances between its group undertakings, which have been eliminated on consolidation.
85
Notes to the accounts (continued) 34 Colleges There are 30 Colleges and one Approved Society (the Colleges) each of which is an independent corporation with its own property and income. The individual audited accounts of the Colleges, in a form specified by the University, are published in the Cambridge University Reporter. During the year payments were made by the University from HEFCE funding in respect of the College fees of publicly-funded undergraduates of £36.0m (2007: £34.7m). These payments are included as “Payments to Colleges” in note 9 above. The University also made payments in respect of the College fees of postgraduate students totalling £3.3m (2007: £2.6m). These payments are included in other operating expenses. The Cambridge Foundation distributed third party donations to the Colleges totalling £5.3m (2007: £5.2m). The payments are not included in the consolidated income and expenditure account. During the year the University provided printing, network and other services to the Colleges for which the Colleges paid a total of £5.0m (2007: £3.0m), and the Colleges provided accommodation, catering and other services to the University for which the University paid a total of £7.1m (2007: £6.3m). During the year the Colleges made donations to the University totalling £2.5m (2007: £2.1m) which were credited to specific endowments. Colleges fund Balance at 1 August Contributions received from Colleges Interest earned Payments to Colleges Balance at 31 July included in creditors
2008 £000
2007 £000
6 3,428 48 (3,480)
40 3,025 41 (3,100)
2
6
The Colleges Fund is administered by the University on behalf of the Colleges, who make all contributions to and receive all allocations from the Fund. The transactions on the Colleges Fund are not included in the income and expenditure account. 35 DIUS / HEFCE Access funds Access to Learning Fund allocation Interest earned Disbursed to students Balance unspent at 31 July
2008 £000
2007 £000
311 7
310 4
318 (318)
314 (314)
–
–
Access to Learning Fund grants are available for students: the University acts only as agent. The grants and related disbursements are therefore excluded from the income and expenditure account. 36 TDA grants for Black and Minority Ethnic Recruitment and Retention TDA grants Disbursed to students Balance unspent at 31 July 86
2008 £000
2007 £000
6 (6)
8 (8)
–
–
87
Contacts Information for journalists Communications Tel: +44 (0)1223 332300 Fax: +44 (0)1223 330262 Email: communications@admin.cam.ac.uk
Information on the 800th Anniversary Campaign Development Office Tel: +44 (0)1223 332288 Fax: +44 (0)1223 764476 Email: enquiries@foundation.cam.ac.uk
Cambridge in America Tel: +1 212 984 0960 Fax: +1 212 984 0970 Email: mail@cantab.org The Cambridge 800th Anniversary Campaign Report 2007–08 has been published. If you would like a copy please contact the Development Office. For all other enquiries please contact Communications.
Produced by: Communications Services, The Office of External Affairs and Communications, University of Cambridge Designed and printed by: Cambridge University Press Photography: front cover, p15, 18, 26, 31, 33 – Sir Cam; p1 – Dan White; p3 – Charlotte Sankey; p7 – Cambridge Assessment; p9 – The Wellcome Trust; p11 – Menzies et al, published in Brain 2008; p17 – Fromanteel Ltd; p20 – The Leverhulme Climate Symposium; p25, 35 – Nigel Luckhurst Photo p17 – reproduced by permission of the Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College
This information is available in other accessible formats upon request. Email: communicationsservices@admin.cam.ac.uk Tel: +44 (0)1223 339397
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Cert no. SA-COC-1527