Such indicators do little more than acknowledge that any group of people will have differing heights and weights. In all the material on quality there is little reference to academic staff. Moreover, they tend to be concentrated in certain universities or parts thereof. The answer lies in one word 'elitism'. Opposition to elitism in our higher education system from government, the public and the institutions themselves is so strong that all universities have to be treated in exactly similar fashion.
Academic distinction is only one important dimension of a university's activities.
Universities serve local communities, they offer many services, they seek to support disadvantaged students, they enter into partnerships with local industry. They may well achieve excellence and high reputation along any of these dimensions. But the advanced intellectual base that needs to be provided by appropriate institutions should be given high priority. The antagonism to providing special support to a limited number of institutions on the grounds of its being elitist is really quite extraordinary, given the obvious ways in which top scholars and researchers stand out above the rest. It is also extraordinary in its contrast to the Commonwealth's policy on sport.