16 January 2019 
Matt Sisson, Projects and Membership Manager
Speculating on the conclusions of the Augar Review is clearly a mug’s game, but it hasn’t stopped the FT joining the club this week, and suggesting that the review will see HE-style loans extended to the FE sector. The FT suggests the review is “likely to recommend maintaining the £9,250 currently paid to universities for each student, while reducing the proportion paid for through loans”. To meet the shortfall, the review is “ considering ways to top up the difference by direct funding from government” that “would ensure that universities received their current levels of funding per head while helping to cut the overall burden of debt incurred by students”.
The FT believes the new leaks are not necessarily incompatible with previous claims about the possible introduction of differential fees, as the introduction of a top-up element could “give the government more discretion to modify the level of funding… depending on the cost of particular university courses or those seen as strategic priorities, such as science and technology programmes”.
