What do the party manifestos say about higher education?

Universities play an important role in improving many things that matter to voters – from training the next generation of doctors, nurses and teachers, leading ground-breaking research that has the power to change the world, and bringing jobs and wealth to towns and cities around the UK.

This means universities will be integral in helping an incoming government to deliver their manifesto pledges. So, what commitments have the political parties made on higher education?

The Liberal Democrats’ headline commitments on higher education include a pledge to improve financial support for disadvantaged students by reintroducing maintenance grants.  

The party would also introduce a statutory duty of care for providers which will include a statutory Student Mental Health Charter. There is a pledge to return to Erasmus+ and to report international student flows separately to estimates of long-term migration. 

The party pledges a review of higher education finance to take place in the next parliament, looking at the impact of the current system on access, participation, and quality. Collaboration between universities, schools and colleges will be encouraged to widen participation in disadvantaged and underrepresented groups.  

The party aims to invest at least 3% of GDP in research and development by 2030, rising to 3.5% by 2034. It will continue to participate in Horizon Europe and join the European Innovation Council.  

Finally, the manifesto offers a variation of the Lifelong Learning Entitlement in the form of a Lifelong Skills Grant, which would give all adults £5,000 to spend on education and training throughout their lives. This will increase to £10,000 in the future when ‘the public finances allow.’

There were few new announcements in the Conservative Party’s manifesto related to higher education. The party’s headline pledge to change the law to close university courses in England with the worst outcomes for their students was announced as far back as July 2023 and trailed during the early stages of the election campaign. Under these proposals, courses that have excessive drop-out rates or leave students worse off than had they not attended university will be prevented from recruiting students. 

The funding this is designed to save would be used to invest in 100,000 more apprenticeships every year, though there is no detail as to what level these apprenticeships would be at.  

There is a pledge to deliver the Lifelong Learning Entitlement from 2025 and a recommitment to introduce the Advanced British Standard. The party promises to work with universities to ensure students get ‘the contact hours they are promised’ and their exams get marked.  

There are no specific pledges to restrict or remove the graduate route, but there are pledges to increase visa fees for international students and remove the student discount to the Immigration Health Surcharge. 

Public spending on research and development would rise to £22 billion a year, alongside a pledge to maintain research and development (R&D) tax reliefs and build on existing plans for Catapults.  

The most eye-catching of Labour’s pledges suggests we could see a major review of higher education policy and funding. The manifesto explicitly recognises that the current funding settlement does not work ‘for the taxpayer, universities, staff or students’, followed by a pledge to ‘create a secure future for higher education and the opportunities it creates’.  

The party has also pledged to publish a post-16 skills strategy which will recognise different roles for different providers. Skills England, a new expert body which will oversee the national effort to meet our skills needs, will form part of this strategy.  

On immigration, Labour pledges to strengthen the Migration Advisory Committee and establish a framework for joint working with skills bodies across the UK, the Industrial Strategy Council and the Department for Work and Pensions. Skills England will also work with the Migration Advisory Committee to make sure training in England accounts for the overall needs of the labour market. 

As part of its focus on ‘kickstarting’ economic growth, Labour proposes ten-year budgets for R&D institutions that allow ‘meaningful partnerships with industry to keep the UK at the forefront of global innovation.’ This is alongside a commitment to work with universities to support spinouts and work with industry to ensure start-ups have the access to finance they need to grow. 

Finally, on security and foreign affairs, Labour will conduct a Strategic Defence Review in its first year of government.

The Green Party pledges to scrap tuition fees and reinstate maintenance grants as their central offering on higher education.

There are also commitments to increase investment into research and development by over £30 billion over the course of the five-year parliament.  

On immigration, the party pledges free access to the NHS for all migrants with visas, allowing students to bring dependents and removing income requirements for all visa applications.

Reform UK pledges to scrap interest on student loans, extend the loan repayment period to 45 years and restrict undergraduate numbers via minimum entry standards.  

There is also a pledge to cut funding to universities that undermine free speech.

The party will stop the ‘backdoor route to immigration’ through use of low-quality degree courses. Visa rules would also be changed so that only international students with essential skills could remain in the UK after their study ends.

Plaid Cymru pledges to expand numbers studying at Welsh universities by increasing the number of Welsh-domiciled students while retaining current numbers of UK and overseas students.  

It also aims to make university education free for all, developing a plan with universities to make them financially viable. 

On research, the party wants to devolve Wales’s share of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) expenditure and increase government investment in R&D.  

The party also supported the Migration Advisory Committee’s recommendation to retain the graduate route. 

The Scottish National Party (SNP) leads with a commitment to ‘defend free university tuition in Scotland.’  

There is a call for the UK Government to agree an EU-wide youth mobility scheme and a pledge to prioritise research and investment in artificial intelligence.

As part of its proposals to ‘defend democracy and human rights’, the party proposes an extension of voting rights to all international students.  

Finally, it pledges to devolve powers to create a bespoke migration system for Scotland that ‘values those who decide to work, live, study and invest here.’ 

With continued strong demand for graduates and a predicted boom in the number of 18-year-olds over the coming years, universities stand ready to work with the next government to meet this demand. We want to play the strongest possible role in supporting growth, jobs, and opportunity in the next decade. Our manifesto ‘Opportunity and Growth’ sets out more about what we need from the next government to achieve this.