Image: UK Government [CC BY-NC-ND 2.0], via Flickr
Guidance from education department shows “disdain” for creative subjects, university group claims
The government is increasing the Strategic Priorities Grant—formerly known as the Teaching Grant—by just £2 million for 2024-25, the Department for Education has confirmed.
In her letter to the Office for Students outlining ministerial priorities for the recurrent grant, education secretary Gillian Keegan (pictured) confirmed that it is to increase from £1.454 billion in 2023-24 to £1.456bn in 2024-25—an increase of 0.1 per cent. Inflation in 2023 as measured by the Consumer Prices Index averaged 7.3 per cent.
The funding—which is for England—is distributed by the OfS to support work in areas including high-cost subjects, student mental health, degree apprenticeships, equality of opportunity and technical qualifications. The OfS also distributes capital funding for facilities and buildings, which is set at £450m a year for 2022-23 to 2024-25.
Breaking down how the Strategic Priorities Grant should be spent, the letter instructs the OfS to increase funding for strategically important high-cost subjects—including medicine, dentistry and nursing—by at least £18m. It also asks England’s regulator to allocate at least £24m of funding to degree apprenticeships. Unlike 2023, there is no dedicated allocation for the Lifelong Learning Entitlement.
“It remains my priority that students pursue higher education studies that enable them to progress into employment, thereby benefiting them as well as the wider economy,” Keegan wrote in the letter.
“It is important to provide students with different high-quality pathways in higher education, notably through higher technical qualifications and degree apprenticeships. These are important alternatives to three-year degrees and provide valuable opportunities to progress up the ladder of opportunity.”
Arts concern
Gordon McKenzie, chief executive of the GuildHE group of small and specialist universities, expressed concern that the increases in funding allocated to areas deemed strategically important will mean that funding to other areas—including arts and humanities provision—will suffer.
“These cuts show once again Department for Education ministers’ disdain for creative education,” he said. “The creative industries deliver over £115bn in value to the UK and create jobs at three times the UK average. But decisions like this show the Department for Education doesn’t get the message and repeatedly makes policy and funding decisions that damage the creative talent pipeline on which those industries depend.”
John Blake, director for fair access and participation at the OfS, said the distribution of the Strategic Priorities Grant allows universities to “continue providing world-leading teaching and a rewarding student experience, and to further invest in their facilities, especially in high-cost subjects such as medicine, allied health professions and science”.
“We plan to publish details about our approach to recurrent funding allocations for the 2024-25 academic year in summer 2024,” he said.
Government response
A spokesperson for the DfE said: “We continue to provide significant financial support of nearly £6bn per year to the higher education sector, plus more than £10bn per year in tuition fee loans.
“The Strategic Priorities Grant is designed to support universities to deliver high-cost courses and specific projects.
“The funding we’ve allocated over the past two years along with funding for this financial year represents the largest increase in government funding for the higher education sector in over a decade.”