Higher Education: Affordability and Quality

Lord Isaac Excerpts

Thursday 2nd July 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Isaac (Lab)]

My Lords, it is an honour to follow the noble Lord, Lord Tarassenko, and to see Oxford so well represented in this afternoon’s debate. With that in mind, I declare interests as provost of Worcester College in Oxford, but also as the chair of governors of the University of the Arts in London.

As has been widely acknowledged in the debate this afternoon, our universities are among the finest in the world. They generate world-leading research, attract international talent and contribute billions of pounds each year to our economy. Yet I think it is no understatement to say that the higher education sector is in crisis. Higher education should be an opportunity for all, not a financial burden that deters talented students from fulfilling their potential. I was fortunate to be the first in my family to go to university. I was supported by a student grant and I was able to graduate, believe it or not, without any debt. Times have changed, but I would like as many young people from similar backgrounds to enjoy the same good fortune.

Tuition fees have undoubtedly provided universities with a stable income, but rising living costs and concerns about debt are discouraging many able students from applying. It is therefore welcome that the Government have announced the return of maintenance grants for lower-income students. However, these are currently linked only to priority courses. My preference would be that such courses were defined more broadly, so that students from lower-income families have the same freedom of choice as their more affluent or more economically confident peers.

Of course, universities themselves, as we have heard this afternoon, face mounting pressures. Even with recent fee increases, we now know that four in 10 institutions are expected to be in deficit by the end of this year. Student numbers are falling, while heavy reliance on international students leaves the sector vulnerable to geopolitical uncertainty. I also fear that the new international student levy raises the risk that many international students are less attracted to studying in the UK, because inevitably—I speak as part of a governing body that has to assess the cost of international fees—we may well be passing these additional costs on to our students. Cuts and delays to the strategic priorities grant, together with the loss of world-leading specialist funding, add further pressures.

Quality must never become the casualty of financial constraint, and we must continue to invest in excellent teaching and research, including, as I wish to stress this afternoon, in the humanities. The recently announced deep cuts in the humanities at Exeter University remind us just how fragile these disciplines have become. I agree that, to deliver on these ambitions, universities must embrace new forms of collaboration, share resources more effectively and, as we have heard, make full use of digital technologies and AI. All this must, I suggest, lead to an improvement in teaching and will drive innovation.

Finally, I turn to creative education, which the noble Baroness mentioned in her speech. As I have said in this House before, the creative industries are one of Britain’s greatest success stories. They contributed nearly £150 billion to our economy last year, yet creative courses remain extremely vulnerable, because they are more expensive to deliver and ever fewer students are attracted to them. These courses must not become the preserve of only those who can afford them or who are prepared to take on debt. If they do, we risk denying future generations of David Hockneys, Tracey Emins and Alexander McQueens. Changes to the pre-degree courses imperil people just like them. We need a pipeline of people moving from further education to higher education and endorsing their preference for the creative industries. Creative education is the pipeline for one of the UK’s most successful industries, and its value, I suggest, cannot be judged solely by graduate earnings. These disciplines enrich our culture, strengthen our international reputation and contribute significantly to economic growth.

Our universities must remain accessible to all. They must offer the widest range of disciplines and be financially sustainable. The future prosperity of our country depends on it.