Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made as of the potential merits of placing a cap on student numbers for each university.

When parliamentary time allows, the government intends to develop legislative options to limit the growth of some courses with poor earning returns at some providers. This would not be a blanket cap on student numbers, but a focused measure to support the sector to prioritise provision that delivers good value for students and the taxpayer. Further work will inform the detailed design of any future measures.

Separately, the Office for Students has consulted on applying recruitment limits to providers with certain ratings under future Teaching Excellence Framework assessments, restricting growth until improvement is demonstrated. This is intended to help drive quality improvements.