This is our response to the government's review of post-18 education and funding call for evidence in 2018. We emphasised the importance of the post-18 education system to the UK's economy, society and our ability to compete globally.
In our submission, we recommended:
- the government should, in partnership with universities, provide more targeted information to prospective students on the costs and benefits of higher educationuniversities could develop their value for money statements, to better explain how pricing decisions for undergraduate courses are arrived at. These should explain how the university uses income from tuition fees, and other sources of income, to fund the student experience and other activities such as research
- to deal with students’ concerns about living costs, new funding should be introduced to restore maintenance grants for those most in need
- to help address students’ fears of debt, government should remove the interest rate that starts building from the start date of the course, and deliver better financial advice, especially on the difference between student loan debt and conventional debt
- greater exploration of ways that learners can study more flexibly and piloting preferential loan repayment terms for subjects that address national skills shortages