The 10 universities at risk of closing or cutting courses over need for English GCSE

Ten universities face losing more than a third of their UK-based students under government plans to restrict access to student loans , which experts warn could put them at risk of going bust. Ministers are expected to lay out plans within weeks that would limit loans to those with a pass in GCSE English, The i Paper understands. A forthcoming consultation would leave the door open to GCSE-equivalent qualifications, but its scope has yet to be determined, according to sources familiar with the discussions.

The measures are intended to crack down on a rise in underqualified students on poor-quality degrees. But universities called it a “blunt instrument” that would reduce opportunities for students with SEND or from disadvantaged backgrounds. One in 12 undergraduates (31,800) starting full-time courses last year had no formal qualifications, including GCSEs, data from the Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA) shows. This is up from one in 62 a decade earlier.

More than a third of UK-based undergraduate students accepted at 10 universities in 2024-25 had no GCSEs or formal qualifications and were from England, where the measures are set to be implemented, analysis by The i Paper found. Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute think-tank, said providers who are heavily reliant on students with no qualifications could close, cut courses, or downsize under the plans. Neurodiverse and poorer students would lose out Ravensbourne University, a former art college in London, had the highest proportion of students without GCSEs, at 72 per cent, followed by Bath Spa University at 64 per cent and Leeds Trinity University at 58 per cent.

A Ravensbourne spokesperson said the university was committed to widening participation and providing opportunities to disadvantaged students, adding that traditional qualifications did not always reflect potential. He called for any changes to student finance eligibility to recognise the importance of alternatives. Professor Georgina Andrews, the vice-chancellor of Bath Spa University, said “equivalent qualifications and alternative routes into higher education” allow students from disadvantaged backgrounds to “improve their lives”.

These include learners who are neurodiverse and have experienced childhood poverty or deprivation. Andrews warned: “Restricting access to student loan funding should not be used as a blunt instrument to create unnecessary barriers to opportunity and social mobility.” Some universities consider professional experience in lieu of formal qualifications under a system known as Accreditation of Prior Experiential Learning. This would allow someone who left school early for work to use that hands-on experience to retrain at degree level.

Other universities with high proportions of students without GCSEs were Arts University Plymouth (53 per cent), University of Wales Trinity Saint David (51 per cent) and Birmingham Newman University (48 per cent). It is not known if all these students accessed a loan to fund their studies, but 95 per cent of eligible students nationwide do. Professor Damien Page, vice-chancellor at Buckinghamshire New University (47 per cent), said: “If this is about quality, it should be judged on how students do, not on what exams they sat at 16.” ‘Franchise’ universities face squeeze Private higher education providers that are not universities would also be affected.

These providers typically partner with universities that take in more students without GCSEs. The biggest of these is Global Banking School, where 57 per cent of the intake had no GCSEs. The largest teacher of full-time undergraduates in the country, it is a private firm contracted by universities around England to teach students who may never set foot on their own campuses. It has had partnerships with universities including Bath Spa and Leeds Trinity.

So-called franchised providers, like Global Banking School, have been growing and keep most of the tuition fee for each student, but give their sponsoring institution a cut for accrediting the degrees. Hillman said the Government has concerns that these franchised providers are cashing in on the student loan system and offering poor value for money. Global Banking School’s partnership with Oxford Brookes University is being investigated by the Office for Students over quality concerns.

Arts University Plymouth also said its figures for the number of students without GCSEs included programmes delivered by its franchised partner, Victoria College of Arts and Design. Dr Naeem Aslam, a board member at the Commonwealth College of Excellence, where 34 per cent of students had no GCSEs, said the planned curbs were “really alarming and will significantly impact our business and sustainability”. He warned of “serious and unintended consequences”. ‘Unscrupulous providers accepting anyone who applies’ But Iain Mansfield, a former government policy adviser on universities and head of education at the Policy Exchange think-tank, said a pass in GCSE English is “the absolute bare minimum” that should be required to get on a higher education course.

The rise in students with no qualifications comes a decade after the country’s formal cap on student numbers was removed. Mansfield said this left “no barrier” to “unscrupulous providers” accepting “anyone who applies” and getting tuition money from the Government that will often never be repaid. The Government loans over £21bn per year to students but loses as much as £7.3bn annually on that cost, according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies.

“If institutions have admitted so many grossly unsuitable people onto courses purporting to be higher education, then it is their own lookout if they suffer financially if these much-needed restrictions come in,” Mansfield said. “It does call for the Government to be ready with insolvency regimes so that they can protect students and protect elements of provision that are valuable.” However he said a good nursing school should not shut down because of a “bloated” business studies department, for example.

Officials should be “ready to step in to save those parts of the system that are worth saving”, he added. Hillman said a GCSE in English was a “low bar” for entry with which international students already have to comply, but cautioned that enforcing it could add administrative costs to universities that are already struggling financially. Universities UK (UUK), UK Business College, Arts University Plymouth and Bucks New University said they offered non-traditional routes for students to participate in higher education and improve their life chances.

A spokesperson for UUK, which represents 142 institutions, said any requirement “must recognise equivalent qualifications and prior experience”. The other providers named in this article either did not comment or referred to UUK’s statement. The Department for Education confirmed its planned consultation would look at a “range of options” for a minimum English language requirement for prospective undergraduates to access student loans.

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