Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential impact of potential cuts to the Department of Economics, Mathematics and Statistics at Birkbeck, University of London, on higher education opportunities for (a) mature and (b) BAME students.

Overall, there are higher proportions of mature students and students from Black, Asian, Mixed or Other backgrounds at Birkbeck College than within the higher education (HE) sector as a whole.

HE providers are independent, autonomous institutions, responsible for their own decisions on staffing issues, including how they structure themselves to deliver research and teaching priorities. Where it is necessary to reshape their activities, it is important that universities carefully consider the impact of job losses on staff and students and the overall sustainability of teaching and research.

The department’s access and participation reforms announced in November 2021 are playing a key role in ensuring individuals can get the support they need to make decisions that are right for them, regardless of their age, ethnicity, geographical region or socio-economic background.

The government has issued guidance to the Office for Student asking it to refocus the entire access and participation regime to create a system that supports people from disadvantaged backgrounds by ensuring students are able to make the right choices, accessing and succeeding on high quality courses which are valued by employers and lead to good graduate employment. This work aims to drive up standards in education and focus in on genuine social justice.