Government crackdown on 'poor-quality' university courses and invest more in apprenticeships with 'new deal' for young people
Targeted maintenance grants will be reintroduced for students from low-income households looking to study courses in priority areas
The Government has announced plans to crack down on "poor-quality" university courses and shift investment towards youth apprenticeships, in what it's calling a "new deal for young people".
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The deal hopes to provide better opportunities for young people by prioritising apprenticeships and degrees in key fields in a bid to tackle youth unemployment.
Following on from the Milburn report, which found that around 1 in 7 young people who are currently not in work, education or training have a university degree, the government will seek to reform the higher education system.
As part of the new deal, targeted maintenance grants will be reintroduced for students from low-income households looking to study courses in priority areas.
They will also introduce legislation to limit the growth of courses that do not provide "good value" for students or the taxpayer, and they're working with UCAS and OfS to make it easier for young people to see the post-graduate outcomes for the courses they're interested in.
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Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: "Young people making choices about their future deserve to know that the investment they are making will lead to real opportunities and stable careers.
"For some that will mean going to university, and we are making this more accessible regardless of background, but for others it will mean technical or vocational routes.
"By raising standards and cracking down on abuse of student loans we’ll ensure our world-leading universities deliver real value for students and the taxpayer."
Apprenticeships will also be prioritised with £3.3 billion investment to drive the government's plan to deliver 50,000 more apprenticeships by 2029.
This will be achieved by defunding courses used by older employees who are "well established" in their careers to free up funding for younger employees.
Work and Pensions Secretary Pat McFadden said: "The decline in youth apprenticeship starts under the last government has kicked the ladder away from too many young people.
"We are reversing that, and expanding opportunities for young people, by tilting funding towards the apprenticeships which will enable them to access high-quality training and those first jobs on the career ladder.
"From the autumn we will also be offering small and medium-sized businesses £2000 for every young apprentice they take on who is under 25 and paying the full training cost – directing money towards where the opportunities are needed most."