Labour ‘would not countenance’ student number cap

Shadow minister rules out number controls as socially and economically regressive

Shadow higher education minister Matt Western has said he “wouldn’t countenance” the reintroduction of “regressive” student number caps in England, but has stopped short of outlining how his party would fund higher education.

Speaking at the 2023 Higher Education Policy Institute’s annual conference in London on 22 June, Western said that university education should cost students less under a Labour government, and that student loan repayment terms should be “more progressive”.