Key Facts

• Amendment proposed by Matt Western.
• Amendment would ensure consistency in academic records through a standardised transcript.
• Additional amendment seeks to address financial sustainability of providers.
• Professor Press from Manchester Metropolitan University highlighted difficulties in delivering lifelong learning due to additional costs.
• The apprenticeship levy, T-levels, and accelerated learning bring an additional cost burden to institutions.
• Colleges have faced a dire financial settlement over the past 13 years.
• There is an estimated cost of £211,000 for providers to familiarise themselves with lifelong learning.
• Over one in three higher education providers are reporting a deficit.
• Further education college funding has fallen by 27% in real terms between 2010 and 2019.
• There is a 40% difference in pay between delivering vocational roles and teaching positions.
• FE colleges do not have risk capital to take on courses without guaranteed learners.
• The legislation will not come into force until 2025.
• There is a concern about FE colleges' ability to sustainably offer new modular courses due to additional administrative and cost burdens.
• Bath Spa University estimates the cost of regulation over the last year at more than half a million pounds.
• Further education lecturers earn significantly less compared to school teachers, leading to a talent drain.
• The amendment proposed would require the Secretary of State to give regard to financial sustainability in funding support for FE colleges and ILPs.
• Government published an impact assessment for the Bill considering impacts on providers.
• An additional allocation of £150 million over the 2023-24 period is provided to support FE colleges.
• The Department for Education (DFE) invested £300 million in reprofiling payments before the end of the financial year.
• The government is spending an extra £3.8 billion on skills over this Parliament.
• 16-to-19 funding will increase by £1.6 billion.
• Funding for apprenticeships up to £2.7 billion by 2025.
• Up to £500 million is spent on T-levels.
• The FE teacher training bursary programme is worth up to £26,000 and will support recruitment over the coming year.
• The further education sector has faced 27% cuts between 2010 and 2019.
• 32% of higher education providers are currently in deficit.
• Institutions delivering degree apprenticeships face associated costs that may limit expansion.
• The amendment would adjust the £37,000 lifelong loan entitlement if Parliament increases tuition fees.
• The unit of resource for student funding at undergraduate level has declined by 15% since 2012, falling to £4,400 in real terms by 2024 (a 51% cut from 2012).
• Mark Corver's analysis shows a significant erosion of the real value of tuition fees over time due to inflation.
• Tuition fees have been frozen at £9,250 for five years but their value has declined in real terms due to inflation.
• Universities UK calculated that by the end of the 2024 academic year, the value of annual tuition fees would be reduced to £6,600 based on 2012 prices.
• London Economics estimated that over a decade, student income per unit of resource is back at 2006 levels when fees were £3,000.
• From 2025 onwards, the LLE will replace the current student finance system.
• Providers can set fees at or below the fee limit amount determined by per-credit rates.
• The Government plans to invest an additional £750 million over three years from 2022 to 2024-25 for HE funding.
• The amendment would insert text after line 18 of clause 2 on page 6.
• Matt Western is concerned about the take-up of recent initiatives like T-levels and accelerated degrees being lower than expected.
• He mentions that 32% of higher education providers are already in deficit, highlighting financial pressures.
• Proposed new subsection (7A) is intended to ensure fee limits apply similarly across courses and modules.
• Providers are worried it could pave the way for differential fees for undergraduate courses based on subject or institution.
• Section 10(7) of the Higher Education and Research Act 2017 sets out rules for setting fee limits on different types of courses.
• Amendment 12 aims to limit Secretary of State's powers on transitional and saving provisions until 31 January 2024.
• The amendment seeks to give providers around 18 months to plan and anticipate responses to the changes.
• Robert Halfon states that due to complexity, regulations will not be laid before this deadline.