Tories pledge more uni places

In an attempt to woo the university sector ahead of the next general election, the Conservatives are pledging 10,000 additional university places at a cost of £300 million, thereby offering a potential lifeline to well qualified university applicants who face losing out in an increasingly competitive field.

This academic year alone, home undergraduate applications rose by approximately three percent at Warwick University, with figures predicted to rise again next year. The Conservative’s new policy is welcomed by NUS President Wes Streeting, and could also benefit current students agonising over their towering levels of debt.

To fund such a scheme, all students will have the opportunity to reduce their debt by ten percent if they make an early repayment of over £500 or an up-front repayment of their student loan. Such an initiative is predicted to successfully discourage graduates from taking the allocated 25 years to pay off their loans, thereby raising the specified target of £300 million – an approximate figure based upon projections of a similar scheme being undertaken in New Zealand.

However, the obvious concern is the preferential treatment which would consequently be afforded to graduates from a wealthy background; especially given the bleak employment prospects currently facing students.

One second year History student admitted, “As much as I would love a ten percent debt reduction, this will be impossible if I cannot even secure a well paid job when I graduate.”

The idea that only the most affluent students would be able to take advantage of discounted loans is an issue Professor Steve Smith, the President of UK universities umbrella group Universities UK is aware of. Nonetheless, as the benefits of the scheme are most likely to help those applicants from the poorest backgrounds, the initiative is widely being viewed as an acceptable short-term solution. Any long-term solution has not yet been suggested by either of the two leading parties.

The announcement of this policy by Conservative Shadow Secretary of State for Universities and Skills, MP David Willetts, may come as a surprise to those who view it as a U-turn on the previous Conservative stance against increased university expansion.

Having spoken out against Labour’s fifty percent participation policy for apparently forcing young people into unsuitable university courses, the Conservatives have seemingly switched sides in favour of expanding university education.

Some say this move could be a mere popularity stunt to attract younger voters. It does, however, remain coherent with the traditional Conservative stance against unnecessary benefit payments.

Willetts claims that increasing university places would help reduce the number of sixteen to eighteen year olds who are not in education, employment or training (NEETS), therefore reducing the amount of taxpayer’s money spent on the dole. Increased education as opposed to increased benefit payments is viewed as a far more productive use of public spending by the Tory party.

Nevertheless, students will be disappointed to hear that the Conservatives have not pledged a return to their previous policy to completely scrap tuition fees, a plan formally endorsed by the Conservative party before it subsequently dropped from their manifesto in 2005.