08 January 2019 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
It may not be ‘news’, more rumour, but the Guardian reports that the Augar Review, due to be published in February, is to propose restricting access to student loans to students with three Ds or above at A-level. Also included in the leak are a possible reduction in the maximum fees for Arts and Humanities courses, and a corresponding increase in fees for STEM subjects.
The most recent leak has caused much concern across the sector. Many of those commenting in the Guardian article fear redundancies and cuts to "non-essential" services such as mental-health support. (It is highly debatable, however, that mental health support is non-essential given that 25% of people in the UK experience a mental health problem in a year). The leak follows an article last week where the former education secretary and two former university ministers all thought a cut to the maximum fee was a bad idea.
The sector awaits the actual publication of the report with bated breath, at the same time as speculating whether any of it will be implemented while Brexit keeps sucking the air out of the room.
