Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the impact of the freezing of tuition fees for domestic students on the funding available from universities for scientific research.

University research is funded by government via a variety of funding sources. Universities also cross subsidise research activity, including from international student fee income. Government monitors the impact of financial pressures on university research. Universities in England receive Quality Related Research Funding which underpins research and which increased by 10.4% to £1,974 million in 2022-23 from 2021-22.

Government has frozen maximum tuition fees for seven years up to and including the 2024/25 academic year. As well as reducing debt levels for students, the fee freeze will help to ensure that our higher education system remains sustainable while also promoting greater efficiency amongst providers.