However, funding gaps due to inflation and cost-of-living pressures threaten the skills pipeline.

We will continue to play our part in looking to drive down costs and be more efficient, but the funding available to universities and colleges – the unit of resource per student – must start to increase to reflect inflation so we can protect the quality of education and deliver outstanding and work-ready graduates.

Russell Group universities have a proven record of offering high-quality education across a range of technical, vocational, and academic disciplines, with teaching from world-leading experts in their fields.

However, it is becoming much harder for universities to deliver the same quality and quantity of education and research activity as the value of funding decreases sharply in real terms.

• Increase the funding universities receive for teaching to reflect inflation to protect the quality of higher education and deliver work-ready graduates.

• Set students up for success by uplifting maintenance loans to reflect inflation and reintroducing maintenance grants for the most disadvantaged.

There is still a huge amount of health, wealth and educational inequality in the UK. We want everyone who has the potential to succeed at college or university to have a chance to study and realise their potential, irrespective of background or circumstances.

This is why we work across the education system to break down barriers to university study, partnering with schools and Further Education colleges. We will continue to prioritise this work, supporting disadvantaged groups and communities and working with local and national employers to develop lifelong and flexible learning programmes.

Our universities also invest millions in schemes to provide hardship funding, mental health, and other support services to help students succeed. to complement this work, the next government should:

• uplift maintenance loans so they reflect actual average inflation each year
• reintroduce maintenance grants for the most disadvantaged students
• review the parental earnings threshold (frozen since 2008)