Overview

• Conservatives say subject-level caps would return in England, targeting courses with persistently poor graduate earnings and outcomes.
• The party estimates about 100,000 fewer university places a year by the end of the next parliament, yielding roughly £3bn to lift the apprenticeship budget from £3bn to £6bn.
• Party materials cite Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis that around 30% of students see no financial return and that taxpayers write off more than £7bn in student loans annually.
• Reporting indicates subjects such as performing arts, English, design, sociology, anthropology, media and psychology are under review as potential low-performing areas.
• Labour condemned the proposal as unreliable and pointed to past declines in apprenticeship starts, while Badenoch tied the education move to a broader ‘golden rule’ for splitting savings.