Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reduction in the number of university places for humanities subjects, and what steps they will take to halt this decline.

The government recognises the value that the humanities play both economically and culturally. However, universities are autonomous institutions and are therefore responsible for deciding which courses to offer.

There has been a slight decrease (1,170 or -0.3%) in the number of students studying arts and humanities courses between 2019/20 and 2021/22. For the 2024/25 financial year, the Office for Students (OfS) has maintained funding for world-leading small and specialist providers at £58 million. This funding was increased by £5 million in the 2022/23 financial year, and earlier, by £10 million in the 2021/22 financial year. Details of providers’ allocations for the 2024/25 academic year will be announced by the OfS in the summer.