This Government’s policies have slammed the door on the aspirations of people across Britain – Angela Rayner

Angela Rayner MP, Labour’s Shadow Education Secretary, commenting on UCAS figures for UK higher education applications, said:

“These figures show the worrying impact of a Conservative Government happy to burden young people with over £50,000 of debt just for getting an education.

“From tuition fees rising with no end in sight, to maintenance grants being scrapped, and extortionate interest rates on student debt, this Government’s policies have slammed the door on the aspirations of people across Britain, and now we are beginning to see the impact that will have on university applications.

“The decline in nursing applications is utterly shocking, and shows the results of the Government’s regressive and short-sighted decision to scrap nurses’ bursaries at a time when our NHS will desperately need more staff.

“If the Tories want to see more young people go on to university they would bring back maintenance grants, tackle high interest rates on student debt, and end their plans to see tuition fees rise each and every year.”