Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they have taken to support universities and other higher education institutions offering foundation courses in creative subjects, including fine art.

The government is committed to supporting creative subjects such as fine art in higher education.

In the 2024/25 academic year, more than two thirds of the £1,402 million Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) recurrent funding to higher education providers is allocated to support the provision of high-cost subjects within price group A to C1.2, including various creative arts courses. This funding is in recognition of the higher costs of teaching those subjects.

For this academic year (2024/25), funding from the SPG for world-leading small and specialist providers was maintained at £58 million. Of the 20 providers recognised in this way, 12 are creative and performing arts providers.