Following much speculation, the government has published the report from the independent panel to the review of post-18 education and funding, commissioned by Prime Minister Theresa May in February 2018.

There are some welcome measures recommended by the panel which the University has joined its Russell Group colleagues in lobbying for, for example, proposals to restore maintenance grants for those students most in need.

However, the report has confirmed the expected headline reduction in the tuition fee from £9,250 to £7,500. It has recommended the government replace, in full, the lost fee income by increasing the teaching grant, leaving the average unit of funding unchanged at sector level in cash terms.

The Government will decide how to respond to the report’s recommendations in the context of its Spending Review.

The expert panel was led by Philip Augar and has published 53 recommendations for Government in respect of both further and higher education. Read them here.

Read the Universities UK response to the report here, and the Russell Group response to the report here.