Tuition fees could be cut as minister plans rethink
TUITION fees could be cut after the new universities minister last night signalled a review of student finance.
Sam Gyimah said officials would investigate whether the higher annual charge of £9,250 ‘works across the system’.
His predecessor Jo Johnson and former Education Secretary Justine Greening are alleged to have blocked previous attempts at reform.
But in his first public appearance since taking office last week, Mr Gyimah yesterday indicated he was open to change and confirmed he will oversee a review on the issue.
He said an examination of the fee system and student loans would form part of a wider inquiry into tertiary education – which includes universities and colleges.
Speaking at Queen Mary University of London, he said: ‘If you look back at the 2012 reforms when this current fee regime was introduced, I think it is right that we go back and see how it works across the system.’
Mr Gyimah refused to give a timetable for the review or reveal its terms of reference but called it ‘a positive move’.
He said sustainable funding was one area that was working well because of higher fees. But he added: ‘Whatever Comrade Corbyn says, I don’t think we will go back to an era where students do not contribute in any way to their fees.
‘In my experience every time a party has been in opposition it has promised the earth, and when it gets into government it does the opposite.’ He added: ‘It is right to look carefully at how the current sys- tem is working and to make sure that it works best for students.’ He said he was shocked that undergraduates in London were being asked to pay a year’s rent in advance and vowed to look at the issue.
He also said students had complained about the cost of paying to print their work. ‘I
‘Promised the earth’
mean it’s a small cost but it just shows there are lots of things around student funding – fees, living costs – I think it is good for us to look at them,’ he said.
Nick Timothy, the PM’s former chief of staff, last week claimed Miss Greening and Mr Johnson had blocked a review including reducing interest rates on loan repayments.
Mr Gyimah said he expects the new Office for Students to make sure universities uphold free speech.
He said: ‘Universities should be an assault on the senses. It would be a tragedy to have the kind of censorship that some US universities have become known for.’
The OfS should also hold universities to account on the issue of vice chancellor pay.
Asked if university bosses are paid too much, Mr Gyimah said: ‘What you don’t want is high pay for mediocre performance. That is unacceptable.’ He promised to examine the issue. It came as a poll of vice chancellors suggested that most think the row over high salaries is politically motivated and does not point to ‘substantive problems’ in the system. A survey by PA Consulting found nine in ten believe ‘negative comments’ by politicians reflect ‘current domestic politics’ rather than real issues.
Six out of ten said the issue was ‘of the Government’s own making, and for them to resolve’. Some vice chancellors thought the row was ‘political revenge’ for universities’ opposition to Brexit. A report said: ‘One vice- chancellor compared this to the backlash against bankers following the 2008 economic crash.’