Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to support rural and regional universities to access funding.

Providers in rural and regional locations are important in supporting their local economies and driving the growth of skills in those areas.

Providers registered with the Office for Students (OfS) and in the ‘Approved (fee cap)’ category of registration, including those located in rural and regional areas, are allocated targeted grant funding through the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG). The government provides this funding on an annual basis to support teaching and students in higher education, including expensive-to-deliver subjects, such as science and engineering and for students at risk of discontinuing their studies. Of the £1.4 billion recurrent funding distributed by the OfS for the 2024/25 academic year, more than two-thirds is being directed to support the provision of high-cost courses.

Falmouth University, which makes an important local and regional contribution, is in receipt of SPG funding for the 2024/25 academic year.