It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship this evening, Ms Furniss. This statutory instrument, which was laid in draft on 20 January , increases the limits on tuition fees that higher education providers can charge students studying undergraduate courses at approved fee cap providers in the academic year. This SI also introduces new lower tuition fee limits for foundation years in classroom-based subjects offered by approved fee cap providers, starting in the academic year.
Our higher education sector is part of what makes our country great. The sector makes a vital contribution to powering our economy, delivering world-leading research and innovation, enriching our society, supporting communities and opening up opportunities for individuals.
From my personal experienceβI was the first in my family to go to universityβI know that the sector is a beacon of opportunity that everyone in this House ought to be proud of. But this world-leading sector is now facing severe financial challenges.
With tuition fees frozen for the last seven years, universities have suffered a significant real-terms decline in their income. Teaching income per UK student has declined in real terms since and is now approaching its lowest level since The Office for Students reports that a growing number of higher education providers are facing significant financial difficulty.
We need to act now to put our higher education sector on a secure footing to face the challenges of the next decade, and to ensure that all students can have confidence that they will receive the world-class higher education they deserve. We also need to ensure that students receive value from their investment. Taking each of those objectives in turn, this SI is intended to fix the foundations and put this vital sector on a more secure footing.
