Overview

• The Conservative leader will propose reintroducing subject‑level caps on courses judged to deliver poor earnings, with party estimates pointing to about 100,000 fewer university places by the end of the next parliament.
• Conservatives say reduced loan write‑offs would save roughly £3 billion a year, funding a rise in the apprenticeship budget from £3 billion to £6 billion.
• Subjects flagged for review include performing arts, English, design, sociology, anthropology, media and psychology, based on party analysis of graduate outcomes.
• The Institute for Fiscal Studies reported in 2020 that around 30% of graduates see negative financial returns and that taxpayers cover more than £7 billion annually in unpaid student loans.
• Labour called the plan not credible and criticised the Conservatives’ record on apprenticeship starts, as Keir Starmer advances a goal for two‑thirds of young people to pursue a degree or a technical route by age 25.