No student loan for maths and English fails

PUPILS who fail maths and English GCSES will be banned from taking out student loans, under government plans.

Ministers will publish proposals this week, including the return of student number controls, aimed at limiting the cost of universities to the taxpayer and cracking down on low-quality degrees.

It marks the biggest shake-up of higher education funding in a decade and reflects a rowing back on policies pioneered by New Labour and the coalition governments which sought to encourage students to go to university.

The Department for Education will announce plans to set minimum entry requirements to ensure students “aren’t being pushed into higher education before they are ready”.

The proposals, which will be put to consultation, will suggest that students who fail to gain a Grade 4 – equivalent to a C in the previous system – in maths and English GCSES should be barred from accessing student loans.

Roughly a third of students fail Maths and English GCSES each year. Alternatively,

this ban could be aimed at those who fail to achieve two Es at A-level, although there would be exceptions to this rule for certain people such as mature students.

Ministers are also proposing student number controls “so that poor-quality, low-cost courses aren’t incentivised to grow uncontrollably”. It is likely that “low-quality” will be defined as those with a high number of students dropping out and a low proportion getting a graduate job or entering further study when they complete their degree.

The number of students at university used to be tightly controlled. But when tuition fees tripled to £9,000 in 2012, the cap on numbers began to be lifted, initially only for students with grades AAB and above at A-level.

Within three years, the cap was lifted altogether and this meant that universities could recruit as many students as they saw fit, and many began to expand.

But Whitehall officials are concerned at the cost of the increasing number who go to university, but fail to earn enough to pay back their student loan.

Ministers have been particularly critical of “Mickey Mouse” degrees that saddle students with debt but add little

‘Student controls are needed so poor-quality, low-cost courses aren’t incentivised to grow uncontrollably’

to their job prospects, and have previously accused universities of running “threadbare” courses in a rush to get “bums on seats”.

Tomorrow, the Government will publish its long-awaited response to an official review of higher education, known as the Augar review.

Led by Sir Philip Augar, the former equities broker, the review was the first since 1963 that the Government ordered into higher and further education.

The Education Secretary will announce a £900million investment in subjects which support the NHS such as medicine, dentistry, nursing and midwifery as well as science and engineering degrees – the largest single increase in university funding for 10 years.

The Lifelong Loan Entitlement will be formally launched, which adults can use to fund four years of flexible training or education.

Ministers believe that while degrees benefit some, others graduate saddled with debt which they will never be able to repay and will ultimately be picked up by the taxpayer.

Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies showed that almost eight in 10 graduates will never pay back their full student loan under the current tuition fees system.

The think-tank found that graduates cost the taxpayer £35,000 each with degrees in “creative arts” subjects – which include music, drama, fine art and design studies.