Labour government unprepared for university closures, says Tory peer

Life peer of the House of Lords, Joanne Cash, has raised concerns over the likelihood of university closures, stating that passes in English and Maths GCSE should be the minimum requirement for getting a degree.

Cash’s comments come after a House of Commons Education Select Committee stated that whilst it is “concerned”, there is no clear protocol for how the government would act if a university institution went “bust” in 2026.

Helen Hayes, Chair of the Education Committee, shared: “The possibility of a major UK university becoming insolvent is a real possibility, not a theoretical warning.”

Cash stated that the scale of the financial pressure was her main worry, pointing out to Times Higher Education that around a third of institutions are expected to run a deficit this year.

Whilst universities are required to form student protection plans under OfS regulations, these are widely seen as inadequate given the scale of the risk at hand.

If university closures don’t happen before 2030, they’ll jolly well happen after 2030

Nick Hillman, director of Higher Education Policy Institute

Cash included that her team is aiming to develop the party’s response to the university sector’s increasing financial troubles, which includes “challenging” the government’s plans for students affected by closures.

Pressure on the sector is expected to grow due to the declining population of 18-year-olds. Research by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) has found that the 18-year-old population supplies over 80% of undergraduates, yet that population will drop sharply after 2030.

This could end up reducing university income from those students by a fifth by the end of the decade.

Nick Hillman, HEPI director, shared that “If university closures don’t happen before 2030, they’ll jolly well happen after 2030.”

When asked whether highly ranked universities should charge more for tuition, Cash said that she had not reached a “final decision” but was clear that a “mandatory GCSE in English and maths should be the bar for getting a degree”.

The Department for Education has reportedly considered plans to restrict university applicants without a pass in English GCSE from receiving student and maintenance loans.