Student Loans

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Laura Trott]

The Chancellor said that the system was fair and reasonable—what a joke! The Government do not recognise the scale of the problem, but we do, and we have come up with a plan to fix it. What is their plan? It does not exist.

[Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)]

Vacancies for graduates have gone down precipitously this year compared with the same time last year. That should worry those of us who are interested in the future. How can we rebalance the offer to young people so that they are not sold a pup—as they have been by consecutive Governments over many years—in relation to what a degree will mean for their future career prospects? How can we ensure that our incredibly valuable further education sector is supported—probably at the expense of some of our lesser universities?

[Laura Trott]

My right hon. Friend is absolutely right: there is nothing progressive about letting a young person take a university degree that has negative returns for them. That is not fair or right, and we should fix it.

The problem is not just the loans, but a system that funnels young people into university courses that do not get them jobs and do not allow them to repay their loans. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says that 30% of university degrees have negative returns for those who study them. It is not just that they do not help, but that they have negative returns. It is worse for those students to go to university—that is not progressive.

Some 75% of the value of loans for creative arts courses is not paid back. Creative arts is an engine of the UK economy, but too many courses just do not deliver jobs in the industry that they purport to serve. It is a mis-selling scandal where brochures promise a glittering career, but the courses deliver nothing but debt and a dead end. That is not right. Of course, creative arts courses that actually lead to jobs should continue, but those who are selling a lie do not have any place being taxpayer funded.

The consequences of this broken system are already becoming clear. According to the Centre for Social Justice, more than 700,000 graduates are currently out of work and claiming benefits. That should concern every Member of this House.

--- Later in debate ---

[Georgia Gould]

I thank my hon. Friend for his advocacy on this issue. I know that he represents a number of students, and this is something that he has raised continually. We have heard the concerns about student finance, and it is something that we will be looking at. I am really happy to take that conversation forward.

[Dr Murrison]

My constituents are not interested in the past, particularly the distant past; they are interested in the future. They have heard what the Conservatives would do, but we have yet to hear from the Government of the day what they will do. Will the Minister enlighten us?

[Georgia Gould]

I think that the past is really relevant. I was a council leader during the last Government and I saw the cuts to local youth services, to early years support and to all our public services. We lived through that time when young people really were at the back of the queue, and we are rebuilding from that through investment in tackling child poverty, in youth services and in schools, and through the historic investment in special educational needs and disabilities provision. Those choices that we are making really matter, and are relevant to the discussion we are having.

In terms of what we are actually doing, we are increasing the threshold to £29,385 this year, which will help to support people this year after the threshold was frozen for four years by the previous Government.

--- Later in debate ---

[Georgia Gould]

I thank my hon. Friend for that powerful point. Her creative arts degree was of huge benefit in getting her to this place.

[Dr Murrison]

Does the Minister think that the creative industries are the exclusive province of universities? If that is what she thinks, can I invite her to visit Trowbridge college in my constituency—an excellent further education college—and see what it is doing with multimedia to give kids the skills they need, as part of the growth in the economy that the Government are sorely lacking?

[Georgia Gould]

Of course I recognise the critical role that FE colleges play in supporting children into the creative industries. That is why this Government are backing FE colleges after the previous Government failed to do so. However, we do not believe that closing down routes to university is the best way to support our creative industries. We can have both, and we can have opportunities for both.

--- Later in debate ---

[Georgia Gould]

We are committed to opening up those routes to lifelong learning, and we are setting out plans on that. I welcome that intervention.

[Dr Murrison]

With hindsight, does the Minister regret Tony Blair’s announcement in the late 1990s that more than 50% of school leavers should go to university? Would it not have been better to have said that all young people leaving school should either go to university or into high-quality apprenticeships or training?

[Georgia Gould]

Opposition Members were accusing me of talking about the past, but I think I was nine years old when that was going on. I do not regret the real focus on opening up access to university, because that opened it up to disadvantaged pupils who might never have had that opportunity. Today, we recognise that we need both those routes. There has not been enough investment or focus on vocational pathways. We absolutely agree with that, and we are putting that right. It is our ambition to have a more sustainable, more specialised and more efficient sector that better aligns with the needs of the economy.