Sunak says universities are “taking advantage” of students taking shredding courses

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British universities are “taking advantage” of students taking “rip” courses, Rishi Sunak said, as he revealed plans to restrict undergraduate degrees of poor quality.

The Tory government said new restrictions would be imposed on courses with high dropout rates or a low percentage of graduates getting a professional job.

But the Labor Party and the Liberal Democrats accused Mr Sunak of attacking “ambition” by making it difficult for disadvantaged students to get into university.

Under the plans, the Office of Students (OfS) would be required to identify the number of students on courses that are seen as failing to produce good results – including potential earnings in the future.

Mr Sunak said the main message of his policy to limit numbers of students for certain degrees is that “you don’t have to go to university to succeed in life”.

Some people have been let down, the prime minister said, adding: “They are being exploited by low-quality courses that don’t lead to a job that makes it worth it – that makes them worse off financially.”

Education Secretary Robert Halfon said it was “absolutely not the case” because the policy was an attack on arts and humanities courses. He refused to name any grades that could be subject to employment restrictions when pressed repeatedly.

When told the policy was “mystical”, the chief Tory told ITV Good Morning Britain: “It’s focusing on individual courses that have poor employment outcomes, and that’s not mystical at all.”

Halfon said the BES would not be given more power to limit student numbers. He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We are directing the Office of Internal Oversight Services to use the power it has to ensure that students who have graduated from university have good skills and good jobs.”

Government wants to limit how many students can get ‘low-value’ degrees

(PA archive)

The maximum fee that can be charged for foundation year courses per term will also be reduced to £5,760 – down from the current £9,250 – in accordance with procedures.

The government has said that semester-based foundation year courses – an extra year of study designed to help prepare students for degrees with specific entry requirements, such as business and medicine – are encouraged in subjects where they are not essential.

Sunak said the moves would prevent young people from selling a “false dream” that would leave them on “a poor quality course at taxpayer’s expense” without a chance to find a decent job.

“This is why we are taking action to eliminate theft in university courses while enhancing skills training and apprenticeships,” he said.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has pledged to “crack down on” higher education providers who “continue to deliver poor quality courses and send a clear signal that we will not allow students to sell false promises”.

But the Labor Party and the Liberal Democrats attacked the measures as an “ambitious ceiling” that would limit choice for young people.

Shadow Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “This is simply an attack on the aspirations of young people and their families by a government that wants to strengthen the ceiling of segregation, not smash it.”

She said the Tories’ “dreadful record on apprenticeships means they cannot be trusted to deliver the comprehensive reform our young people need” – warning of “new barriers to opportunity in areas with fewer graduate jobs”.

Munira Wilson, education spokeswoman for the Liberal Democrats, said: “Universities don’t want this. It’s an aspirational ceiling, making it difficult for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds to continue studying.”

She added, “Rishi Sunak ran out of ideas to the point that he came up with a new version of a policy announced by the Conservatives and then did not announce it twice.”

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