Raising England¡¯s tuition fee cap during a cost-of-living crisis is ¡°just not going to happen, not in a million years¡±, according to Robert Halfon, despite universities¡¯ increasingly vociferous warnings over declining funding.

The higher education minister also told?Times Higher Education?that the Westminster government¡¯s?recently announced plans?for student number controls on?what it termed ¡°rip-off¡± courses?would mean people being ¡°encouraged to go to university¡±, rather than cutting numbers.

Universities UK has called for a ¡°national conversation¡± on finding a sustainable solution to university funding across the UK, amid a freeze in England¡¯s ?9,250 tuition fee cap confirmed until at least 2024-25. That means funding being eroded by inflation for at least seven years since fees last rose, with former Conservative minister Lord Johnson of Marylebone warning this could lead to universities?¡°falling over one by one¡±?if the cap is not uprated with inflation.

The Department for Education pitched its student number control plan as being about ensuring ¡°high-quality provision¡± in universities. Will cutting university funding increase the quality of degrees?

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¡°If you compare what universities have had to the FE sector, there¡¯s no comparison,¡± Mr Halfon?answered. ¡°If you look overall, the vast majority of universities are in good financial health ¨C that doesn¡¯t mean there aren¡¯t some [that are not] and I know OfS [the Office for Students] is investigating some¡­and I completely get challenges that are being faced.

¡°But if you look at the research grant, the loans, the money we give ¨C ?1.5 billion Strategic Priorities Grant plus the ?750 million on teaching facilities [additional government funding announced last year] ¨C universities get ?40 billion a year.¡±

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Mr Halfon, MP for the Essex town of Harlow, continued: ¡°If you compare that to the FE sector over the years ¨C although we¡¯re increasing skills funding by ?3.8 billion ¨C given the difficult financial constraints we have, I can¡¯t go to my constituents in Harlow and say, ¡®By the way, on top of everything else, on top of all the other cost-of-living challenges, we¡¯re going to increase your tuition fees.¡¯ It¡¯s just not going to happen, not in a million years.

¡°I just think we have to be real, that we have to live in the world as it is, which is an incredibly difficult one faced by cost-of-living challenges.¡±

Referring to another element of the DfE¡¯s response to its higher education reform consultation, the minister added: ¡°No way am I going to advocate increasing tuition fees ¨C in fact we¡¯re just going to cut them for classroom-based foundation years.¡±

Asked about the number controls plan ¨C under which the OfS has been asked to look at capping numbers on courses that fall short of its quality metrics on continuation, completion and progression to managerial jobs ¨C the minister said the move aligned with his priorities on ¡°jobs, skills, [and] social justice¡±.

¡°How can it be right that if you are from a disadvantaged background and you take out that loan [for fees of ?9,250 a year] then you might go on a course that has either poor continuation or completion or progression?¡± he asked.

Is the aim to reduce the number of students going to university?

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¡°Absolutely not,¡± replied Mr Halfon. ¡°What it will do is improve quality.¡±

He added that ¡°people will be encouraged to go to university because they will know that if they are going to do a [degree] course they are going to have a good outcome¡±.

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Is the number controls plan something of an ¡°if¡± because, given the time it will take to implement such a policy, it won¡¯t be in place until after the next election and a new government takes over?

¡°It can¡¯t, obviously, happen tomorrow ¨C it will take a couple of years,¡± acknowledged Mr Halfon.

He?also highlighted the importance of Institutes of Technology ¨C collaborations between universities, further education colleges and employers he described as ¡°new tertiary education for the 21st century¡± ¨C as well as the lifelong loan entitlement, which is ¡°going to completely change the nature of how people think about Level 4, Level 5 and Level 6 higher education¡±.

It was important ¡°not just to look at the statement [on number controls] as a standalone product ¨C if you look at it alongside the IoTs, the extra skills offerings of degree apprenticeships and the LLE, you¡¯ve got an incredible triangle of skills and good higher education and flexible products and choice and quality that we¡¯re offering to learners,¡± he said.

Asked about future priorities, Mr Halfon said he was ¡°determined to do¡­everything I can to push more degree apprenticeships across the system. We¡¯re doing a lot of work to try to encourage providers, whether it¡¯s financial incentives, getting rid of bureaucracy and regulations.¡±

Degree apprenticeships, which he has long championed, were a ¡°no brainer¡±, he added, given they meant ¡°no debt¡­a good skill¡­a good job at the end¡±.

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john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com