Review of post-18 funding - latest briefing

28 May 2019

Reports suggest the Prime Minister’s review of post-18 education and funding could recommend cutting tuition fees from £9,250 to £7,500 or even lower. We are concerned such a cut would not be fully compensated and could have a devastating impact on our universities. Even if some compensatory grant funding is on offer, this will likely come with additional restrictions and lack the guarantees needed to plan ahead with any degree of certainty.

Anyone with the talent and desire to enter university should be able to. Government should avoid reintroducing student number controls by the back door. If Ministers cut tuition fees, the lost funding must be made up in full by the Treasury with an enduring guarantee that funding will meet future demand.

The current tuition fee system is starting to put universities on a sustainable footing. The system is not perfect, and we urge Ministers to reintroduce maintenance grants for the poorest students and address widespread concerns about the interest rate on student loans. However, the system has many positive features which should be preserved, including no upfront costs and repayments based on earnings, following graduation. Communication of these features needs to be better to bust the many myths surrounding student loans.

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