Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to protect the sustainability of specialist STEM subjects at universities facing financial pressure.

Higher education (HE) providers are independent from government and as such are responsible for managing their finances. Nevertheless, this government remains committed to creating a secure future for our HE sector, so it can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy.

We continue to provide funding through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) annually to support teaching and students in HE. This includes funding to support expensive-to-deliver subjects, access and participation, and world-leading specialist providers. For the 2026/27 academic year, over two-thirds of the £1,252 million SPG recurrent (programme) budget has been allocated to providers to support the provision of high-cost subjects, for example medicine, dentistry, science, engineering and technology.

More broadly, the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper sets out the government’s commitment to placing the sector on a more sustainable footing, by supporting providers to drive efficiency, strengthen financial resilience and adopt more effective operating models.