No student loans for the worst-performing university courses, pledges Jenrick
Robert Jenrick will announce plans to withhold student loans for the worst-performing courses in a major speech set to be delivered on Wednesday.
The Tory leadership contender will propose withholding student loans for the worst 10 per cent performing courses – freeing up funding for apprenticeships and vocational training.
Under the plans, set to be delivered to the Thatcherite Centre for Policy Studies, 130,000 fewer students would go to university.
The money will instead go towards expanding the funding for small businesses taking on apprenticeships for under-19s to include medium-sized businesses.
He will also enable universities to become Institutes of Technology.
Apprentices would learn alongside university students in some situations allowing for a “two-way transfer of knowledge”, a source close to Mr Jenrick said.
Mr Jenrick will not announce which particular courses will be affected, but a campaign source said the decision will be made based on university rankings.
The plans are part of a “plan for growth” that will detail how to “radically” increase nuclear baseload power, transform the welfare state to get people back into work, build houses and cut the size of the state to lower taxes.
Mr Jenrick will say: “We are sending thousands of young people to university who would benefit far more from building practical skills.
“It’s time to end Blair’s failed experiment with higher education, close down failing universities, and replace them with apprenticeship hubs for young and old alike, giving people the real chance at a better life they deserve.
“We should never again be reliant on foreign labour for the brickies, welders and electricians that build this country and power our economy forward.”
Kemi Badenoch, his rival in the contest, has not outlined her plans for higher education.
The former business secretary did, however, tell the Tory conference earlier this month that lecturers were marking down young Conservatives because “of their beliefs”.
The university sector has become increasingly reliant on foreign students as the value of tuition fees have gone down in real terms, after being frozen in 2017 at £9,250.
Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies also estimates that one in five graduates would be better off financially if they hadn’t gone to university.
A separate study by the Office for Students showed that nearly three in 10 graduates do not progress into highly skilled jobs or further study 15 months after graduating.