22 August 2023 , 13:17
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Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has admitted that the cost of university for today's students would have put her off going when she was younger.
Ms Keegan, who left school at 16 to become an apprentice, suggested she had some sympathy with Keir Starmer, who said he wouldn't have been able to study law at Leeds University in the current economic climate. The Labour leader said his dream of continuing his studies would be stopped "cold in its tracks" - and accused the Tories of a "deep betrayal of aspirational Britain".
Ms Keegan said she was working to ensure disadvantaged kids aren't shut out from higher education - but admitted her younger self might have been intimidated by the costs. Asked about Mr Starmer's comments, she told TimesRadio: "We have a student loan system. We have a maintenance loan system as well. So those systems are in place and they've actually enabled more and more people from disadvantaged backgrounds to go to university.
"So since 2010, you're now 86% more likely to go to university from a disadvantaged backgrounds. But what I've been working on as well is making sure that if that is how you feel - and I have some sympathy with that because I probably would have had the same concerns because I wouldn't have possibly had the confidence to back myself with that an investment of £50,000 or so at that age."
The Education Secretary argued there were alternative routes into work from a traditional university qualification, such as degree apprenticeships. She was sponsored to study a degree in Business Studies at Liverpool John Moores University after getting a job as an apprentice in a car factory at 16. But she said there were "accessible" routes to university for poorer students, such as grants and hardship funds.
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Tuition fees, which were first introduced under Tony Blair, now set students back up to £9,250 per year - with a total bill of nearly £28,000 for a three-year course. Students also have to cover accommodation, living costs and supplies.
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In a round of interviews, Ms Keegan also defended her claim that students won't be grilled on their A-Level grades in 10 years' time. Her comments as students collected their results last week were branded "incredibly rude and dismissive" by Labour. But today she insisted that she had never asked anyone for their A-level results in her 30 years in business.
Ms Keegan told Sky News her remarks were "taken out of context", adding: "But it is true and I will stand by the comments, because I was asked this actually after a business guy had said the same in an earlier interview, and I will stand by the comments.
"As somebody who has worked for 30 years in business, that has employed hundreds if not thousands of people, I can honestly say I have never asked anybody for their A-level results or what grades they got. That is just the reality, 10 years later which is the time period I was asked about, that is the reality."
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