Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to protect, and (2) to increase, the funding available for all forms of mathematics at universities.

The government strongly supports all forms of mathematics in higher education. We are pleased many students chose to take up courses in mathematical sciences (39,210 students in England[1]) and that many more enrol on courses involving elements of mathematical study such as engineering, computer science, and accounting.

Our student loan system supports students who have the qualifications to benefit from higher education to access higher education, including a range of mathematics courses. Additionally, the government also supports a number of mathematics-based courses via the Strategic Priorities Grant, a funding pot to support the provision of higher education. This includes high-cost subject funding – extra money given to providers to deliver expensive subjects. Mathematical subjects that attract high-cost subject funding are those which have typically higher delivery costs that are not met by tuition fees alone. This includes courses involving the study and application of specialist mathematics such as civil engineering and physics. For the academic year 2021/22, these subjects are in price group B and their high-cost subject funding rate will be £1,515. This is an increase of 4% from the previous academic year – part of our reprioritisation of Strategic Priorities Grant funding towards high-cost subjects which support the NHS and wider healthcare policy, high-cost science, technology and engineering subjects, and subjects meeting specific labour market needs.

[1] Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) Student data, Table 49: Table 49 - HE student enrolments by HE provider and subject of study 2019/20 | HESA (English providers only).