UK may crackdown on ‘debt trap’ university degrees

Kemi Badenoch, United Kingdom’s (UK) conservative leader is set to unveil a plan to address ‘debt trap’ degrees by capping university placements for home students to approximately 100,000 annually.

Simultaneously, this move may affect international student placement.

The move is framed as a radical reform of the sector.

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The proposal targets what the party describes as a “rigged system propping up low-quality courses,” promising to reallocate public funds towards apprenticeships.

Badenoch plans to appeal to the government to abolish the higher education ‘status quo’ and provide more funding for apprenticeship and reduce debt trap university degrees.

This increased budget would be sourced from the public money currently being spent on what she labels ‘debt trap degrees’.

According to reports,  thousands of young people leave university each year with crippling loans and no real prospects.

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UKs international education has been described as a rigged system that is propping up low-quality courses, even as people can’t get high-quality apprenticeships that will lead to real jobs.

£3 billion saving predicted from course cuts
The party’s strategy involves placing caps on funded university courses that consistently lead to poor graduate outcomes.

According to Conservative estimates, the reintroduction of number controls across all subject groups would reduce annual university places by roughly 100,000, saving over £3 billion in lost loan repayments for the taxpayer.

The remaining funding would be channelled to support high-quality courses at the UK’s research-intensive universities, alongside an investment push for an apprenticeship revolution.

The plans have already drawn criticism from the opposition. Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, highlighted that the last Conservative government oversaw a collapse in apprenticeship starts, but agreed that too many university courses leave students with little face-time, poor job prospects, and saddled with debts they can never repay.

Meanwhile, David Willetts, a former Conservative universities minister, offered a more nuanced view of the focus on vocational routes.

He acknowledged the nostalgia and endless popularity for apprenticeships, but suggested the push reflected a desire for a different economic structure, one with more stable, long-term careers in manufacturing and industry.

Bobby Duffy, director of the Policy Institute at King’s College London, cautioned that the public is putting an lot of hope on the idea of apprenticeships partly because the UK has been historically poor at delivering them, suggesting that the reality of the new system may ‘slightly dash’ those high hopes.

What this means for prospective Nigerian students

The proposed plan to cap domestic university places to 100,000 to eliminate ‘debt trap’ degrees will intensify competition and reshape the landscape for prospective international students.

As institutions seek to offset lost domestic fee revenue, there may be a strong drive to increase international student intake on profitable and research-intensive courses, likely raising entry standards.

Concurrently, the policy’s focus on shutting down ‘low-quality’ courses means international applicants may find fewer options, while government funding will prioritise top-tier universities and skills-based degrees.

This shift, alongside reported plans to extend the residency requirement, suggests a more selective and difficult environment for international students, especially those aiming for long-term settlement.