Earlier this month, the Arts SU Policy Team and myself responded to a government consultation on higher education reforms. Proposals included in the consultation would affect students in universities such as ours. Two of the main proposals include introducing minimum entry requirements for student funding and introducing controls on student numbers. We answered the consultation disagreeing with these proposals as this would limit how accessible a university education would be to future students.

The minimum entry requirements would prevent students who do not obtain certain grades from accessing student loans, but they would still be able to fund their university education through private loans or pay-day lenders. This would really restrict higher education from learners and undo work done around widening participation, especially at UAL where our courses are more focused on portfolios.

The controls on student numbers were proposed for what they called “low value courses” e.g., courses where students aren’t guaranteed a graduate job at the end of their studies. This is worrying to us as students from an art and design university, as our graduates may not seem traditionally successful at the end of their studies, even if they are excelling in their industry.

We hope that our response to the consultation is taken into consideration and we will continue to keep you updated on the situation.

You can read our full response by following the link here.

Syahadah Sharil - Arts SU Campaigns Officer