Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to increase the number of students from low income backgrounds enrolled on university access programmes.

Access to higher education (HE) should be based on ability and attainment, not background. Opportunity should be available to all and it is the department’s aspiration that no groups are left behind.

Grants and loans are available for students to undertake access to HE courses, subject to eligibility. The Adult Skills Fund, previously the Adult Education Budget, fully funds or co-funds education and skills training up to and including level 3 for eligible adults aged 19 and above. Where grant-funded provision is not available, individuals can choose to access Advanced Learner Loans, which can support them to access a level 3 qualification.

The government also provides financial support through the Office for Students (OfS) to support student access and success, including for disadvantaged students. £301 million was provided for the 2024/25 academic year.

All HE providers registered with the OfS that intend to charge higher level tuition fees must also have an Access and Participation Plan approved by the OfS. Access and Participation Plans articulate how HE providers will improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented and disadvantaged groups, including how they will support greater access. In creating their plans, providers should consider the Equality of Opportunity Risk Register, which details 12 key sector risks across the student lifecycle and the student groups most likely to experience these, including students from low-income backgrounds.

There are already many excellent examples of activities to support access to HE that providers are delivering, but the department wants the sector to go further. We are calling on providers to play a stronger role in expanding access and improving outcomes for disadvantaged students, making sure that they are delivering robust and ambitious Access and Participation Plans.

By the summer, the department will set out its plan for HE reform and the part it expects HE providers to play in this.