Looming rise in student numbers sparks calls for skills reform in England

Contributing sentiments towards policy:

64% : The number of first-year undergraduate students in England entering higher education will increase by about one-third by the end of the decade -- from roughly 522,000 this year to 683,000 in 2030-31, according to estimates commissioned by the AOC from the consultancy London Economics.
61% : The next UK government must boost investment in skills training to accommodate a looming increase of 150,000 more students seeking higher education by 2030 in England, educational experts have warned.
60% : The scheme offers adult learners to access loans equivalent to four years' worth of higher education to spend flexibly on degree or technical-level qualifications.
57% : At the same time, government spending on skills will be 23 per cent below 2009 -- 10 levels, according to analysis by the Institute for Fiscal Studies think-tank.
52% : Lord Jo Johnson, a former Conservative minister for higher education, said that while recent reforms to the student loan system had saved the Treasury nearly £3bn a year, universities that hit performance targets should be allowed to increase their fees in line with inflation.
51% : "We need the same 'demand-led' system of available places for FE that we have in HE, as well as a higher level of funding per student, so that we have a stronger system of skills training for those who never go into higher education," he added.
44% : Universities will make a £2,500 loss on each domestic student this year, according to estimates by the Russell Group of research universities, which expects the figure to double by 2030 unless government policy on fees changes.

*Our bias meter rating uses data science including sentiment analysis, machine learning and our proprietary algorithm for determining biases in news articles. Bias scores are on a scale of -100% to 100% with higher negative scores being more liberal and higher positive scores being more conservative, and 0% being neutral. The rating is an independent analysis and is not affiliated nor sponsored by the news source or any other organization.