University access scheme loses third of its budget in latest cuts

A flagship outreach scheme that aims to get more people from under-represented groups into English universities has suffered another cut to its funding.

Uni Connect will receive a budget of £20 million in 2024-25, down from the £30 million it received last year and just a third of the £60 million funding it had in 2020-21, it was announced on 4 April.

In a letter outlining the next strategic priorities grant (SPG) the government will provide to the Office for Students, the education secretary, Gillian Keegan, said the budget for the programme – which a recent analysis determined generates between £5 and £9 of economic activity for every £1 spent – should be reduced by £10 million.

Despite the cut, Ms Keegan said she was still committed to ensuring a wider group of people go to university.

“Widening access to HE and supporting disadvantaged students by raising aspiration and attainment remain priorities,” she wrote.

“I am pleased to see HEPs [higher education providers] refreshing their Access and Participation Plans and continuing their work with schools to support pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds [to] get onto the pathway that is right for them, whether that be through an apprenticeship, an HTQ [Higher Technical Qualification], or a course at another university.”

But the news has been greeted with disappointment by experts who have argued that, in some areas of England, university access is going backwards.

“This is exactly the wrong time to cut Uni Connect funding by a third, when students from low-income backgrounds need all the support they can get to make the right decisions for them about higher education,” said Graeme Atherton, director of the National Education Opportunities Network at the University of West London.

“It will have a huge impact on efforts to widen access, especially in areas of England where our recent work shows there has been little, if any, progress in participation for those from the lowest income backgrounds over recent years.”

The latest independent review of Uni Connect, conducted by the consultancy Public First, found that, despite its economic impact and some success placing students in universities, the scheme had suffered from uncertainty over its funding and the shifting priorities placed on it.

Referencing this report, Ms Keegan said in her letter that “the OfS should consider how Uni Connect best focuses its resources on activities that are found to be the most effective, and the targeting of geographical areas to address regional disparities in progression to HE”.

Overall the SPG is set to rise by just £2 million in 2024-25 to £1,456 million, effectively a real-terms cut given the high rate of inflation over the past year. Grants that top-up funding for high cost creative and performing arts courses will be frozen at £16.7 million while grants for what have been deemed “strategically important high-cost subjects” such as medicine, engineering and nursing will rise to £18 million.

Outlining other funding priorities for the financial year, Ms Keegan confirmed that £2 million should be used by the regulator to support an expansion in the number of medical school places.

The government has pledged to double the number of medics universities train to 15,000 by 2031 as part of the NHS long-term workforce plan, but Ms Keegan confirmed only a modest 205 new places for home students would be funded this year, with the money also going towards supporting the first tranche of 200 medical degree apprentices starting in September.

Further funding of £24 million would also be provided to facilitate other degree apprenticeships, she said. Ms Keegan – herself a former apprentice – called on the OfS to maintain a “continued focus” on “growing the offer in careers currently under-served by degree apprenticeships, including targeting new providers who have not delivered degree apprenticeships to date, alongside your work to improve access to these for groups who do not typically take up these life-changing opportunities”.

An OfS spokesperson said the amount of funding for Uni Connect was decided by the DfE and the Treasury. “We understand the news of a reduction in funding is disappointing to the Uni Connect partnerships and we will be having individual conversations with them to discuss the impact on their work,” they added.

The DfE said: “We continue to provide significant financial support of nearly £6 billion per year to the higher education sector, plus more than £10 billion 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.”

tom.williams@timeshighereducation.com