Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to pages 12 and 19 of the report published by the Office for Students entitled Financial sustainability of higher education providers in England: 2025, published on 8 May 2025, what steps her Department is taking to reduce the potential impact of market competitiveness on (a) regional higher education provision and (b) access to higher education for students from underrepresented backgrounds.

Market competitiveness is a longstanding feature of our independent and autonomous higher education (HE) sector.

The regional and local provision of HE, and access to HE for students from underrepresented backgrounds, are both important components of our strategy for HE.

HE providers have duties to co-operate in the development and review of Local Skills Improvement Plans and have regard to the plan when making decisions in relation to their technical education or training provision.

The department will support the aspiration of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university, and will act to address the persistent gaps for different student groups and to break down the barriers to opportunity.

The department will soon publish its plans for HE reform as part of the post-16 Skills White Paper.