Plan to crack down on 'rip-off' university degrees

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has pledged to ace down connected "rip-off" degrees that bash not pb to postgraduate jobs.

Under plans owed to beryllium announced later, universities successful England volition beryllium forced to bounds the fig of students they enlistee onto underperforming courses.

But Labour said the determination would "put up caller barriers to accidental successful areas with less postgraduate jobs".

Universities UK, an advocacy group, said assemblage was a large concern for the immense bulk of students.

A spokeswoman for the organisation warned immoderate measures indispensable beryllium "targeted and proportionate, and not a sledgehammer to ace a nut".

Under the plans, autarkic regulator the Office for Students (OfS) volition beryllium asked to bounds the fig of students that universities tin enlistee to courses that bash not person "good outcomes" for students.

The authorities said this would see courses that person precocious drop-out rates oregon person a debased proportionality of students going connected to nonrecreational jobs.

Nearly three-in-10 graduates bash not advancement into highly-skilled jobs oregon further survey 15 months aft graduating, according to the OfS.

The OfS already has the powerfulness to analyse and authorisation universities which connection degrees falling beneath minimum show thresholds - but the caller rules would necessitate the regulator to bounds pupil numbers for those courses.

The existent thresholds for full-time students doing a archetypal grade are for:

Universities UK said the UK had the highest completion rates of immoderate OECD state and wide restitution rates were high.

"However, it is close that the regulatory model is determination arsenic a backstop to support pupil interests successful the precise tiny proportionality of instances wherever prime needs to beryllium improved," a spokeswoman said.

Labour's shadiness acquisition caput Bridget Phillipson said the announcement was "an onslaught connected the aspirations of young people".

Liberal Democrat acquisition spokesperson Munira Wilson said the premier curate was "out of ideas" and had "dug up a argumentation the Conservatives announced and past unannounced doubly over".

She said: "Universities don't privation this. It's a headdress connected aspiration, making it harder for young radical from disadvantaged backgrounds to spell connected to further study."

The authorities besides announced it would trim the maximum fees universities tin complaint for classroom-based foundation-year courses, from £9,250 to £5,760. In 2021/22, 29,080 students were studying a instauration degree.

Foundation twelvemonth courses are designed to assistance hole students for degrees with circumstantial introduction requirements oregon knowledge, specified arsenic medicine and veterinary sciences.

However, the authorities said probe suggested excessively galore radical were encouraged to instrumentality a instauration twelvemonth successful immoderate subjects similar business, wherever it was not necessary.

University Alliance, which represents nonrecreational and method universities, said cutting fees for instauration twelvemonth courses was "disappointingly regressive" and "makes them financially unviable to deliver".

Chief enforcement Vanessa Wilson said: "Disadvantaged students and the 'Covid generation' volition suffer retired if this proviso is reduced oregon lost."

She added that the authorities had chosen "to berate 1 of the fewer UK sectors which is genuinely world-leading".

Mr Sunak said: "The UK is location to immoderate of the champion universities successful the satellite and studying for a grade tin beryllium immensely rewarding.

"But excessively galore young radical are being sold a mendacious imagination and extremity up doing a poor-quality people astatine the taxpayers' disbursal that doesn't connection the imaginable of a decent occupation astatine the extremity of it."

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said: "These caller measures volition ace down connected higher acquisition providers that proceed to connection mediocre prime courses and nonstop a wide awesome that we volition not let students to beryllium sold a mendacious promise."