Is membership of a mission group such as the Russell Group, 1994 group, Million+ or University Alliance worth the financial cost?  The last year has seen a number of UK universities either switch from one mission group to another or withdraw altogether.

The University of Northampton has recently left the ‘Million+’ group of modern universities, with Vice Chancellor Professor Nick Petford stating:

“We can’t really see what value a mission group offers us anymore”.  “We’d rather be independent and pick and choose the universities we want to work with”.  “Million+, as a think tank, has a useful role to play. But it has almost become a millstone around our neck.”

Read more of this lead article in today’s Research Fortnight.