Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on funding Phase 3 of the Uni Connect programme.

Uni Connect is a 4-year programme which has established 29 regional partnerships between universities, colleges, employers, and other local partners to provide sustained outreach to young people in schools and colleges in areas of low or unexplained gaps in higher education (HE) participation.

The programme is funded at a level of £60 million per academic year, until July 2021, and has enabled local partners to galvanise action around HE outreach, as a supplement to the significant funding that is already spent by HE providers on outreach, as part of their access and participation plans.

The department is considering the approach to future funding of outreach. Decisions about the longer term remain under review.