The Government has unveiled a new Skills White Paper designed to urgently tackle a national skills shortage. The plans aim to increase the number of skilled workers and, critically, reshape the relationship between universities and the UK economy.

What’s in the Government’s Skills White Paper?

The Government’s Skills White Paper outlines a plan to address national skills shortages and better align education with the needs of the economy. Several proposals will directly impact universities:

Tuition fees linked to quality

Universities will be allowed to raise tuition fees for home undergraduate students in line with inflation. However, any future increases to the fee cap will depend on indicators such as teaching quality, student satisfaction, and graduate outcomes.

International Student Levy

The Government intends to introduce a tax on universities income from international students, expected to be around 6%.

Maintenance support

Maintenance loans will rise in line with inflation, and means-tested, non-repayable maintenance grants will be reintroduced for students from the lowest-income households. These grants will be funded by the new international student levy, with more detail to follow in the Autumn Budget.

Accommodation

The Government has committed to working with universities and local authorities to make sure housing supply keeps up with student demand.

Graduate Route

The Graduate Route post-study visa is expected to be shortened from 24 to 18 months, although no decision has yet been made on whether this change will apply retrospectively.

Basic Compliance Assessment

The White Paper introduces stricter Basic Compliance Assessment requirements for institutions sponsoring international students. Visa refusal rate must fall below 5% (currently 10%), enrolment rate must reach 95% (up from 90%), and course completion rate must reach 90% (up from 85%).

Why does this matter?

Tuition fee rises

With most home undergraduate students facing higher fees, this could lead to greater debt. Tying fee increases to education quality also risks creating inequalities, where students from lower-income backgrounds might feel pushed toward lower-cost, lower-quality options. Additionally, the prospect of universities deemed as ‘underperforming’ may lead to tuition fee cuts for the institution, potentially limiting their financial ability to make improvements.

Maintenance support changes

The increase in maintenance loans is a great step but not hugely beneficial for those who are already struggling with the rising cost of living.

Targeted grants

Limiting the new grants to certain priority subjects could create an unfair two-tier system.

Impact on international students

Funding these grants through a levy on international student income would unfairly increase costs for those students and could discourage them from studying in the UK. Combined with the new 6% levy and compliance pressures, government modelling suggests these measures could reduce international student numbers by around 31,000 annually, a major financial hit for many institutions.

What we’re doing

We met with our MP, Abtisam Mohammed, to discuss our concerns about the Government’s Skills White Paper. We’re also organising a Sheffield Students’ Assembly where we’ll present our issues alongside students and Abtisam will address these concerns. Book your ticket for the Sheffield Students' Assembly on Friday 7 November.

To ensure students’ voices are heard in this process, we’re also working closely with the NUS who are lobbying nationally on the White Paper.