Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has made an assessment on the effect of the increase to the employer’s contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme on the quality of education provided by Higher Education Institutions after the transitional protection has passed.

The Department recently published its response to the public consultation on increases to teachers’ pensions employer contributions. All representations made by stakeholders have been considered, alongside all evidence relevant to the issues involved. The Department has decided to maintain its original proposal, to fund schools which receive public funding and Further Education providers for 2019-20, and not to fund Higher Education Institutions or Independent Schools. Funding beyond 2019-20 is a matter for the upcoming Spending Review.

The full response can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/funding-increases-to-teachers-pensions-employer-contributions.

In addition, it is worth noting that all registered Higher Education providers are required to meet the Expectations of the UK Quality Code for Higher Education, which sets a high baseline for quality and standards.