Education secretary cuts university arts funding to prioritise STEM courses

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Education secretary Gillian Keegan. Photo: David Woolfall

Education secretary Gillian Keegan has advised slashing funding for performing and creative arts courses at university.

In a letter to the universities regulator the Office for Students, Keegan said it was her priority to ensure young people "pursue studies that enable them to progress into employment" and that "benefit [students] as well as the wider economy".

In the document, sent on April 4 to chair of the OfS Lord Wharton, Keegan outlined plans to increase funding for "strategically important" subjects such as science, engineering and technology subjects.

She asked that the OfS ensure that postgraduate support grants and funding were ring-fenced for "important high-cost subjects only".

Top-up funding intended to help students pursue music, drama, fashion and other arts undergraduate courses will be frozen at £16.7 million in 2024-2025.

That amount, the same as this year, equals a real-terms cut due to inflation at a time when many universities are already committing cuts to creative subjects and arts provision.

Keegan asked that the OfS cut grants for postgraduate teaching in creative and arts subjects, although she called on it to continue to fund what she called "world-leading small and specialist providers" up to a maximum of £58.1 million for the 2024-2025 period, in recognition of institutions such as conservatoires’ "considerable cultural, societal and economic benefits".
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Meanwhile, she also stated her support for prioritising the mental health of students, keeping funding for the concern held at £15 million, while reducing funding for access-widening scheme Uni-Connect to £20 million.

A spokesperson from Universities UK called the decision "disappointing".

They said: "Universities have been doing more with less for years. There are real concerns about the ability of many institutions to cope with spiralling costs, along with frozen fees that have depreciated by more than a third in real terms since their introduction, which all impacts on the student experience. We urgently need investment in teaching funding, and today’s announcement that OfS grant funding has also been cut in real terms is very disappointing."

It comes after academics warned of "a world without Shakespeare, Pinter and Beckett" as universities including Surrey, Kent, Middlesex, Goldsmiths and Queen Mary University of London react to drastic cuts in arts departments.

Meanwhile, teachers at the National Education Union have accused the government of damage to arts education caused by Conservative "intervention", with a motion asking the union’s executive to push for sector-wide reform on the issue.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: "We’re investing billions in higher education, and this includes backing our world-leading specialist providers. We provided £58 million for 2023/24 and have asked the OfS to maintain that level of funding for FY24/25, so more people can continue to access high quality arts and creative courses. This is on top of an increase of £5m in FY 2022-23 and the £10m increase we provided in FY 2021-22.

“We also are making sure all pupils receiving a high-quality cultural education, with investments for schools in the arts totalling approximately £115 million up to 2025, alongside core school budget allocations.

“Thanks to our uplift in funding for Arts Council England, a record 985 cultural organisations are also receiving support through to 2026, bringing culture to the doorsteps of millions and opening up access to the arts."