Higher Education Strategic Priorities Guidance for Office for Students

On Thursday 31 March, the Department for Education issued guidance from the Secretary of State for Education and the Minister of State for Higher and Further Education to the Office for Students on the Higher Education Strategic Priorities Grant for 2022-23. Guidance on strategic priorities for the financial year 2022-23 has also issued guidance.

Minister for Higher and Further Education Michelle Donelan said:

“We’re investing nearly £900m to support high-quality teaching and world-class facilities in our universities, focusing on STEM, medicine, and degree apprenticeships that deliver real benefits for students and the economy. This sits alongside further support for mental health, as students recover from the pandemic, and a flagship new National Scholarship Scheme, to help high-achieving students from low-income families achieve their full potential.

“Our reforms to the higher education system will deliver the highest-quality education for students from all walks of life, equipping them with the skills to succeed and meet the needs of nation. Alongside this, changes to the student finance system will rebalance the burden of student loans more fairly between the student and the taxpayer. We are reducing the interest rates paid on student loans for new borrowers ensuring that under the new terms graduates don’t pay back more than they borrowed in real terms.”

Last month DfE announced almost £900m of new investment in our fantastic HE system over the next three years.

The investment of nearly £900m includes:

• £750m of extra capital and resource funding through the strategic priorities grant to support and grow the provision of vital and high-cost subjects including STEM, degree apprenticeship, Level 4 and 5 qualifications and modular, flexible courses.
• £75m to deliver a new national state scholarship to improve opportunities for high achieving disadvantaged students.
• £60m to support the student loans company to help deliver the LLE and our reforms to higher education and student finance.

The letters can be seen on the Office for Students website here.