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Written question asked by Baroness Caine of Kentish Town (Labour) on Thursday, 16 July 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 30 July 2026. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Thursday, 30 July 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Higher Education: Finance

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the evidential basis for their decision to support high-cost STEM courses and cut high-cost creative courses, as set out in the letter from the Secretary of State for Education to the Office for Students on 6 July.

Answer

The department recognises the cultural and economic value of performing and creative arts courses. However, given the fiscal constraints, our approach is to prioritise funding for subjects with the highest delivery costs and where there is stronger evidence of current and future skills shortages.

Creative arts subjects already attract lower rates of funding than the science and technology subjects in price groups A and B, with Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) funding representing only a relatively small proportion of their overall funding when fees are taken into account. For 2025/26, the SPG funding rate for performing and creative arts courses was £130.54 per student full time equivalent. This is just over 1% of the total funding for these courses including tuition fees that are supported by subsidised student loans.

Performing and creative arts courses will, like other subjects, benefit from future inflationary increases to tuition fees.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL2188
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Finance Higher education
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk