Labour signals end to Sunak’s crackdown on ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees
The Science Secretary has dismissed claims the university sector is too bloated, signalling an end to the crackdown on so-called “Mickey Mouse” degrees.
In an interview with The Telegraph, Peter Kyle criticised the previous Conservative government for having “called into question… the value of an undergraduate degree”.
He said: “I don’t think the [university] sector is too big at the moment. This is the problem.
“You wouldn’t say that about any other sector. You can’t walk down the street without passing 10 sandwich shops. Well is the UK sandwich sector too big? It’s seeped into the narrative in the last decade about higher education.”
Speaking at the Universities UK (UUK) annual conference in Reading earlier this week, Mr Kyle suggested that Tory rhetoric around “rip-off degrees” has likely deterred low-income pupils from applying to university.
“I think the trouble is that the value of an undergraduate degree has been called into question by the previous Government,” he told The Telegraph.
“That is a psychological barrier, not to people who come from affluent, assertive families, but to people from lower incomes for whom the consideration about money has a far more direct impact on their lives because their families live and breathe it every day.”
It comes after Rishi Sunak announced plans to crack down on what he labelled as “Mickey Mouse degrees” in one of his last major education policy moves before leaving Number 10.
‘Ripping young people off’
The former prime minister unveiled plans to freeze recruitment for degrees deemed to be failing in a number of metrics, amid fears that “some university courses are ripping young people off”.
The new Government has no plans to follow through with the Tory crackdown, the Telegraph understands, but nor will it speed up the sanctions process for underperforming degrees.
The Office for Students (OfS), the universities regulator, already has powers to issue penalties to universities that fail to meet student retention standards or can’t show graduates go on to succeed.
However, the process has been criticised as too slow as universities found to be failing are often given several years to prove they have improved performance.
Richmond, the American International University in London, was one of five universities to receive “improvement notices” from the OfS this summer because of high dropout rates or poor graduate outcomes.
The university was told it has until summer 2026 to show it has made “targeted action” to improve student retention rates, after just 61 per cent of undergraduates completed their studies at the latest count.
Protecting public money
Labour has appointed Sir David Behan, the former head of the Care Quality Commission, as the interim chair of the OfS.
He published an independent review of the universities regulator in July concluding that it must now focus on monitoring the sector’s financial sustainability - while also ensuring quality, protecting public money and maintaining students’ interests.
It follows widespread financial concerns over the university sector, with 40 per cent of institutions in England expected to fall into deficit this year.
Funding woes have been exacerbated by a dramatic drop in lucrative international students this year following a Tory tightening on dependant visas.
‘The war on universities has ended’
Mr Kyle, the Science Secretary, told vice-chancellors at the UUK conference that “the war on universities has ended,” adding: “It ended the day that the new Labour Government came in and that means that the rhetoric that talks down universities is finished.”
He later suggested to The Telegraph that the UK should refocus its efforts on attracting the best students from abroad, despite the current limitations on student dependants.
Mr Kyle said: “Our country can limp forward and have a few good economic hits by ignoring higher education, but we cannot succeed long term unless we have a vibrant, successful university sector that is attracting academic potential from every walk of life, and yes, being open to the best coming in from abroad, too. And that is what this Government aspires to.”