Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions they have had with UK Universities about concerns over the future finances of universities.

The Office for Students (OfS) is responsible for assessing and monitoring the financial sustainability of registered higher education (HE) providers in England. The English HE sector overall remains in reasonable financial health, according to the OfS, in its report published on 4 April 2019. The OfS has currently registered 388 HE providers. This means that it has assessed that each of those providers has met a registration condition of being financially sustainable looking out for a period of five years. The OfS will continually monitor providers’ compliance with this registration condition, as with all registration conditions, in a way that is appropriate to the circumstances of individual providers.

Ministers and officials in the Department for Education regularly discuss a wide range of issues relating to HE with the OfS. Similarly, Ministers and officials frequently meet representatives of individual HE providers and sector representative bodies.

Education is a devolved matter. The Department for Education is responsible for HE in England only. The OfS is the regulator for HE in England only.