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Written question asked by Earl of Clancarty (Crossbench) on Thursday, 23 July 2026, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 6 August 2026. It was answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern (Labour) on Thursday, 20 August 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Arts: Higher Education

Question

To ask His Majesty's Government on what basis they have removed Strategic Priorities Grant Funding for arts courses for the 2026–27 academic year.

Answer

The government recognises the importance of creative and performing arts courses delivered by higher education (HE) institutions. However, funding decisions for the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) must prioritise subjects with the highest delivery costs.

Decisions on SPG funding were taken in the context of a highly challenging fiscal environment. For the 2025/26 academic year, funding through the SPG for creative and performing arts courses was around £130 per full-time equivalent student, or just over 1% of total funding provided by government when tuition fees are considered. Arts courses will also benefit from increases in tuition fee limits in line with inflation.

The government’s support for HE arts provision is reflected by our continued investment in the 20 specialist providers identified by the Office for Students as world leading, which will receive £57 million via the SPG in the 2026/27 academic year. Of this group, 12 providers solely focus on the creative and performing arts.

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Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL2653
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Arts Finance Higher education
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk