Rishi Sunak defends crackdown on ‘rip-off’ university degrees as Labour claims it puts a ‘cap on aspiration’
- Rishi Sunak said he wanted to stop people ‘being taken advantage of’
- Read more: Prime Minister Rishi Sunak vows to curb ‘rip-off’ degrees
Rishi Sunak yesterday defended a crackdown on ‘rip-off’ degrees amid claims it is an attack on arts courses.
The Prime Minister said he wanted to stop people ‘being taken advantage of’ by restricting universities in recruiting students to ‘low-quality courses’.
Under the plans, the number of students who can be accepted on to ‘poor quality’ degree courses in England will be capped, or possibly even reduced to zero.
But critics – including the Labour Party – have accused the Government of seeking to put ‘caps on the aspirations of our young people’.
Mr Sunak said the key message of the policy is: ‘You don’t have to go to university to succeed in life.’ He told reporters yesterday: ‘For many people, university is the right answer and it does brilliantly, but actually there are a range of people who are being let down by the current system.
Rishi Sunak (pictured) yesterday defended a crackdown on ‘rip-off’ degrees amid claims it is an attack on arts courses
‘They’re being taken advantage of with low-quality courses that don’t lead to a job that makes it worth it, leaving them financially worse off. That’s what we’re clamping down on today.
‘But, at the same time, making sure young people have a range of fantastic alternative opportunities, whether that be apprentices or higher technical qualifications, for example.’ The announcement by Mr Sunak and Education Secretary Gillian Keegan is part of the Government’s response to the Augar review, established by Theresa May in 2017.
READ MORE: Rishi Sunak vows to curb ‘rip-off’ degrees: Universities face cap on students accepted on to courses with poor career prospects
Under the plans, ministers will ask England’s universities regulator to limit the number of students recruited onto courses seen to fail to deliver good outcomes for graduates.
Yesterday education minister Robert Halfon said it was ‘absolutely not the case’ that the policy is an attack on arts and humanities courses.
When repeatedly pressed, he refused to name any degrees that could be subject to recruitment limits. And when it was put to him that the policy is ‘woolly’, the senior Tory told ITV’s Good Morning Britain: ‘It’s a very substantive policy… it could be any course.
‘It focuses on individual courses that have poor employment outcomes – that is not woolly at all. What we’re doing is making sure students who leave university have good jobs, good skills at the end.’
Professor Steve West, president of Universities UK, said: ‘The Office for Students already has the power to impose recruitment limits on courses which breach certain minimum thresholds. The vast majority of courses exceed these thresholds so any measures by government need to be targeted and proportionate, and not a sledgehammer to crack a nut.’
The Prime Minister said he wanted to stop people ‘being taken advantage of’ by restricting universities in recruiting students to ‘low-quality courses’
Yesterday education minister Robert Halfon (pictured) said it was ‘absolutely not the case’ that the policy is an attack on arts and humanities courses
The report’s recommendations also included cutting tuition fees and increasing funding for further education.
Last night Mrs Keegan said: ‘These new measures will crack down on higher education providers that continue to offer poor quality courses. We will not allow students to be sold a false promise.
‘For most, higher education is a sound investment with graduates expecting to earn on average £100,000 more over their lifetime compared to those who do not go to university. However, there are still pockets of higher education provision where that promise that university education will be worthwhile does not hold true. This cannot continue.
‘It’s not fair to taxpayers… but most of all it’s not fair to students who are being sold a promise of a better tomorrow only to be disappointed to end up paying far into the future for a degree that did not offer them good value.’
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