The number of students that can be accepted onto “poor quality” university degrees will be capped, Rishi Sunak has announced.
The move is intended to protect students and taxpayers against “rip-off degree courses” that have high drop-out rates, don’t lead to good jobs, and leave young people with poor pay and high debts, the government said in a statement on Monday.
Meanwhile, the maximum fee that can be charged for classroom-based foundation year courses will also be reduced to £5,760—down from £9,250 currently—under the measures.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak speaks during a press conference in Downing Street, London, on July 13, 2023. (Henry Nicholls/PA Media)
The prime minister said: “The UK is home to some of the best universities in the world and studying for a degree can be immensely rewarding. But too many young people are being sold a false dream and end up doing a poor-quality course at the taxpayers’ expense that doesn’t offer the prospect of a decent job at the end of it….