Rachel Hewitt Questions Student Loans Threshold for GCSE English
Ministers are considering a national GCSE English threshold that would make student loans harder to access for thousands of students in England. A pass in GCSE English could become the test for government-backed tuition and maintenance loans through the Student Loans Company.
Rachel Hewitt and Student Loans
Rachel Hewitt, the chief executive of MillionPlus, said universities already check whether learners can meet English language requirements and will not accept students they are not confident can succeed. She asked why the government would add another barrier for students who can meet a university’s requirements, are willing to make the investment and are assessed as capable.
She also said the approach risks blocking access to mature students who want to re-enter education later in life. In her words, those are “precisely the group the government should want to see reskill and upskill.”
Libby Hackett and Minimum Entry Standards
Libby Hackett, chief executive of the Russell Group, said: “In principle, we support a national minimum entry standard to higher education.” She added that minimum entry thresholds can act as a safeguard when public subsidies through student loans sit alongside graduate contributions.
Hackett said the government should work with the higher education sector on how any minimum entry requirement would apply. She also said flexibility should remain for trusted institutions so they can decide equivalent entry routes for mature students and those from underrepresented backgrounds.
More Than 33,000 Students
The proposal could affect more than 30,000 students each year who enrol on full-time first degree courses without formal qualifications such as GCSEs. Last year, more than 33,000 domestic students began full-time first degrees without formal qualifications such as GCSEs, A-levels or recognised equivalents.
Critics said the new regulation would mostly harm students from poorer backgrounds, students from non-traditional backgrounds, students educated overseas and those who struggled within the school system. Universities that teach large numbers of such students, often through franchise arrangements with external partners, could also face a financial hit.
Department for Education
A Department for Education spokesperson said: “We are restoring our world-class universities as engines of opportunity, aspiration and growth.” The spokesperson also said the government is cracking down on poor-quality courses so students can be confident they are getting value for money from university degrees.
The department said it would not comment on speculation. For students who enter higher education without GCSEs or other formal qualifications, the dispute now turns on whether access to finance starts being tied to a national English threshold.
