Committee publication · Correspondence · 30 June 2026
Letter from Minister for Skills on Higher Education, dated 24.06.26
From: Education Committee
Summary
Minister for Skills Baroness Jacqui Smith updates the Education Committee on government reforms to strengthen higher education quality. The letter outlines measures including linking tuition fee increases to provider quality ratings, publishing outcomes data for franchised courses, imposing recruitment limits on low-quality providers, and legislating to restrict growth of courses with poor earnings returns at certain institutions.
Key findings
- Government will link future tuition fee uplifts to providers' quality ratings, ensuring students only pay more for good-quality provision
- Office for Students will impose recruitment limits on providers with bronze or lower quality ratings
- New legislation planned to limit growth of courses with poor earnings returns at some providers, following IFS analysis showing 25% of students see negative financial returns
- All providers will receive clear quality ratings under new robust quality regulation system published by Office for Students on 11 June
- Government expects providers to publish clear information on graduate destinations and outcomes; autumn consultation planned on minimum English language requirements for student finance
Tone
SupportiveTopics
higher-educationeducation-qualitystudent-financeregulation
Key actors
Baroness Jacqui Smith, Helen Hayes MP, Office for Students, Institute for Fiscal Studies, Secretary of State, UCAS, Department for Education
Notable line
“… students should only pay more where the quality is good. We are also working with the Office for Students to ensure that the Strategic Priorities Grant supports the …”
Key Quotes
“We came into government with a manifesto commitment to raise teaching standards in higher education.”
“Too many courses are not delivering the outcomes students deserve.”
“Students' interests are at the heart of government policy. Our plans to link future inflationary fee uplifts to providers' quality ratings reflect our belief that students should only pay more where the quality is good.”
“Every student deserves the best possible outcomes from their investment in higher education. However, new analysis published today by the Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that 25% of students do not see a positive return from their studies …”
“This will not be a blanket cap on student numbers, but a focused measure to support the sector to prioritise provision where it delivers good value for students and the taxpayer.”
Source · parliament.uk record ↗