MillionPlus responds to higher education funding cuts and Treasury Committee call for student finance reform

MillionPlus has today (7 July) warned that new reductions in teaching grant funding risk weakening the UK's skills pipeline and placing further pressure on universities already operating in an increasingly challenging financial environment.

The Government has belatedly confirmed a reduction in Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) funding for 2026-27 and has removed teaching grant support for a range of subjects including nursing, computing, history, geography, archaeology and the creative and performing arts. The amount of funding allocated to full-time and part-time student premiums has also been reduced. The announcement comes on the same day that MPs on the Treasury Select Committee called for significant reforms to the student finance system and urged ministers to reconsider measures that increase the repayment burden on graduates.

Professor Graham Baldwin, Chair of MillionPlus and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lancashire, said:

"The decision to reduce teaching grant funding for courses such as nursing and computing is difficult to reconcile with the Government's ambitions for economic growth, public service reform and the development of a highly skilled workforce.

"Modern universities educate large numbers of the professionals who power our public services, businesses and local economies. Reducing support for these subjects sends an unhelpful signal at a time when employers are reporting shortages across healthcare, digital and technical occupations. At the same time, reducing support for creative and cultural disciplines risks undermining sectors that make a major contribution to the UK's economy and international reputation.

"Furthermore, today's Treasury Select Committee report emphasises the growing financial pressures being placed on universities, their students and graduates. Its findings reflect concerns that have been raised across the sector for many years: that graduates are being asked to carry an increasingly large share of the cost of higher education, while confidence in the student finance system has been weakened by repeated policy changes.

“The committee is clear that continuing to increase repayment obligations for graduates while simultaneously recognising flaws in the system is not a sustainable long-term approach.

“There is also a question of fundamental intergenerational fairness. Universities create benefits not only for graduates themselves but for employers, public services, local communities and the wider economy; a properly implemented funding system should reflect that reality.

"Higher education is an investment in the nation's future prosperity. We would encourage ministers to review the funding of higher education to deliver a long-term and sustainable settlement that supports universities and their students to drive opportunity, skills development, innovation and economic growth across the whole country."

ENDS

Notes to editors

1. For further information or to arrange an interview, please email press@millionplus.ac.uk
2. MillionPlus is the Association for Modern Universities in the UK, and the voice of 21st century higher education. We champion, promote and raise awareness of the essential role and impact of modern universities in the UK’s world-leading higher education sector. More information can be found at www.millionplus.ac.uk
3. What are modern universities? Modern universities are long established centres of higher education in their communities with roots that stretch back decades, if not centuries. Many gained university title following legislation agreed by parliament in 1992. They make up almost half of the UK university sector with over a million students studying at modern universities every year.

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