Lords debates financial pressures on higher education

Debate 

Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour), Chief Education Advisor for TES Global Ltd, put forward the debate. 

This was a general debate. During debates, members put their experience to good use to discuss current issues and draw the government's attention to concerns.     

Members speaking    

Members speaking in the debate included: 

• Lord Austin of Dudley (Non-affiliated), corporation member of the Dudley College of Technology
• Baroness Garden of Frognal (Liberal Democrat), fellow of the Chartered Institute of Further Education
• Lord Leong (Labour), director and chair of the Council for Education in the Commonwealth.

Members spoke about a range of subjects. Opening the debate, Lord Knight of Weymouth said:

'A healthy, vibrant higher education sector is essential as this country seeks to grow and thrive...the balance between tuition fee income from UK students and UK government funding has shifted significantly in the last decade, and this is the core of the problem.'

Baroness Barran (Conservative), Minister for the School System and Student Finance, responded on behalf of the government:

'The government’s principal priority for students is to ensure that their best interests are protected...to deliver better value to students and to keep the cost of higher education under control, we have frozen the maximum tuition fees for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 academic years...higher education providers will continue to play an integral role in supporting this government’s aim of levelling up productivity and employment.'

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Watch and read the debate   

Find out more about the issues discussed: catch up on Parliament TV or read the Lords Hansard transcript.

Explore background information   

Find out more about the issues the debate covers in the House of Lords Library briefing.   

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