This has been a very difficult time for students, and the government is working with the sector to make sure all reasonable efforts are being made to enable students to continue their studies.

On tuition fees, the government’s clear and stated expectation is that universities should maintain the quality and quantity of tuition and seek to ensure that all students regardless of their background have the resources to study remotely. This is more important than ever at the moment with the vast majority of students studying solely online. The sector has put in significant resources and worked hard to provide and prepare learning materials for this academic year and there are some fantastic and innovative approaches to delivering high-quality online learning.

Universities are autonomous and responsible for setting their own fees, up to a maximum of £9,250 for approved (fee cap) institutions. Maximum fees have been frozen for the current 2020/21 academic year and also for 2021/22, the fourth year in succession fees have been frozen. The Office for Students (OfS), as regulator for higher education (HE) providers in England, has made it clear that HE providers must continue to comply with registration conditions relating to quality and academic standards, which set out requirements to ensure that courses are high-quality, that students are supported and achieve good outcomes and that standards are protected, regardless of whether a provider is delivering its courses through face-to-face teaching, remote online learning, or a combination of both.

We continue to regularly engage the sector in discussion on this issue, including student representative groups, and I met with the National Union of Students and OfS student panel only last week. I wrote to the OfS on 13 January 2021 outlining the government’s expectations of the higher education sector following the new national lockdown. Following this, the OfS wrote to provider Accountable Officers, setting out the actions they are taking in connection with providers’ compliance to existing regulatory requirements. We expect providers to ensure that continuing and prospective students receive the clear, accurate and timely information needed to make informed decisions.

Whether or not an individual student is entitled to a refund of fees will depend on the specific contractual arrangements between the provider and student. If students have concerns, there is a process in place. They should first raise their concerns with their university. If their concerns remain unresolved, students at providers in England or Wales can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) for Higher Education to consider their complaint.

With regards to accommodation, universities and private accommodation providers are autonomous and are responsible for setting their own rent agreements. The government plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation.

However, we recently announced up to £20 million to help students most in need of support in these exceptional circumstances, for example those struggling to cover accommodation costs as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, in addition to an existing £256 million universities can use to help students. The government urges universities and private accommodation providers to be fair in their decisions about rent charges for this period. We welcome the news that a number of universities and large companies have already offered rent rebates for students that have been asked to stay away from their accommodation.

The OIA website is available here: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published guidance on consumer contracts, cancellation and refunds affected by COVID-19. This sets out the CMA’s view on how the law operates to help consumers understand their rights and help businesses treat their customers fairly. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-to-investigate-concerns-about-cancellation-policies-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-consumer-contracts-cancellation-and-refunds.

The OfS has also published guidance on student consumer protection during the COVID-19 outbreak, which is available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-students/student-and-consumer-protection-during-coronavirus/.

This has been a very difficult time for students, and the government is working with the sector to make sure all reasonable efforts are being made to enable students to continue their studies.

On tuition fees, the government’s clear and stated expectation is that universities should maintain the quality and quantity of tuition and seek to ensure that all students regardless of their background have the resources to study remotely. This is more important than ever at the moment with the vast majority of students studying solely online. The sector has put in significant resources and worked hard to provide and prepare learning materials for this academic year and there are some fantastic and innovative approaches to delivering high-quality online learning.

Universities are autonomous and responsible for setting their own fees, up to a maximum of £9,250 for approved (fee cap) institutions. Maximum fees have been frozen for the current 2020/21 academic year and also for 2021/22, the fourth year in succession fees have been frozen. The Office for Students (OfS), as regulator for higher education (HE) providers in England, has made it clear that HE providers must continue to comply with registration conditions relating to quality and academic standards, which set out requirements to ensure that courses are high-quality, that students are supported and achieve good outcomes and that standards are protected, regardless of whether a provider is delivering its courses through face-to-face teaching, remote online learning, or a combination of both.

We continue to regularly engage the sector in discussion on this issue, including student representative groups, and I met with the National Union of Students and OfS student panel only last week. I wrote to the OfS on 13 January 2021 outlining the government’s expectations of the higher education sector following the new national lockdown. Following this, the OfS wrote to provider Accountable Officers, setting out the actions they are taking in connection with providers’ compliance to existing regulatory requirements. We expect providers to ensure that continuing and prospective students receive the clear, accurate and timely information needed to make informed decisions.

Whether or not an individual student is entitled to a refund of fees will depend on the specific contractual arrangements between the provider and student. If students have concerns, there is a process in place. They should first raise their concerns with their university. If their concerns remain unresolved, students at providers in England or Wales can ask the Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) for Higher Education to consider their complaint.

With regards to accommodation, universities and private accommodation providers are autonomous and are responsible for setting their own rent agreements. The government plays no direct role in the provision of student residential accommodation.

However, we recently announced up to £20 million to help students most in need of support in these exceptional circumstances, for example those struggling to cover accommodation costs as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, in addition to an existing £256 million universities can use to help students. The government urges universities and private accommodation providers to be fair in their decisions about rent charges for this period. We welcome the news that a number of universities and large companies have already offered rent rebates for students that have been asked to stay away from their accommodation.

The OIA website is available here: https://www.oiahe.org.uk/.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has published guidance on consumer contracts, cancellation and refunds affected by COVID-19. This sets out the CMA’s view on how the law operates to help consumers understand their rights and help businesses treat their customers fairly. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/cma-to-investigate-concerns-about-cancellation-policies-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic/the-coronavirus-covid-19-pandemic-consumer-contracts-cancellation-and-refunds.

The OfS has also published guidance on student consumer protection during the COVID-19 outbreak, which is available here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-students/student-and-consumer-protection-during-coronavirus/.

The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. The Department delivered 870,000 of these to schools, academy trusts and local authorities by 25 January. Data on the number of devices delivered, including by local authority, is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/laptops-and-tablets-data/2021-week-4.

The Government is providing this significant injection of devices on top of an estimated 2.9 million laptops and tablets already owned by schools before the start of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Our overall commitment of 1.3 million devices is comparable with Ofcom’s UK-wide estimate that between 1.14 million and 1.78 million children in the UK have no home access to a laptop, desktop or tablet. The Department has allocated devices based on recent data on the number of pupils eligible for free school meals.

All schools have been invited to order their full allocation of devices. Schools, academy trusts and local authorities are responsible for distributing the laptops and tablets and are best placed to know which pupils need access to a device.

The Department has also partnered with the UK’s leading mobile operators to provide free data to help disadvantaged children get online, as well as delivering 4G wireless routers for pupils without connection at home.

The Government is investing over £400 million to support access to remote education and online social care services, including securing 1.3 million laptops and tablets for disadvantaged children and young people. This includes over 750,000 laptops and tablets that were delivered to schools, trusts and local authorities by the end of last week, with 100,000 of these delivered in the first week of January alone.

We have already sent over 50,000 4G wireless routers, with free data for the academic year, to schools, so that children have access to remote education.

The Department has also partnered with some of the UK’s leading mobile network operators to provide free data to disadvantaged families, which will support access to education resources, including Oak National Academy, and other websites.

Families will benefit from this additional data until July 2021. Schools are able to request free mobile data uplifts via the Get Help with Technology service.

A number of mobile network providers are also progressing the zero-rating of educational resources, such as Oak Academy and BBC Bitesize.

Protecting student and staff wellbeing is vital - these are difficult times and it is important students can still access the mental health and wellbeing support they need. We recognise that many students are facing additional mental health challenges due to the disruption and uncertainty caused by the COVID-19 outbreak.

It is for higher education providers as autonomous bodies to identify and address the needs of their student body and to decide what mental health and wellbeing support to put in place. At the start of, and throughout the COVID-19 outbreak, I have asked universities to prioritise mental health support, and continue to support their students, which has included making services accessible from a distance. We encourage students to stay in touch with their provider’s student support and welfare teams, as these services are likely to continue to be an important source of assistance. Many providers have bolstered their existing mental health services, and adapted delivery mechanisms including reaching out to students who may be more vulnerable.

In October I wrote to Vice Chancellors outlining that student welfare should remain a priority. I have convened a working group of representatives from the higher education and health sectors, specifically to address the current and pressing issues that students are facing during the COVID-19 outbreak.

We have also worked with the Office for Students (OfS) to provide Student Space, which has been funded by up to £3 million by the OfS. Student Space is a mental health and wellbeing platform designed to bridge any gaps in support for students arising from this unprecedented situation and works alongside existing services. Ensuring students have access to quality mental health support is my top priority, which is why we asked the OfS to look at extending the platform. I am delighted they have been able to extend the platform to support students for the whole 2020/21 academic year.

Students struggling with their mental health can also access support via online resources from the NHS, Public Health England via the Better Health - Every Mind Matters website, and the mental health charity Mind.

The government recognises that language skills are crucial to help people integrate into life in England, as well as to break down barriers to work and career progression. This is why we want to support all adults in England to secure the English language skills they need. We remain committed to the manifesto commitment to boost English language teaching to empower existing migrants and help promote integration into society.

We understand the challenges faced by further education providers due to the implications of the COVID-19 disruption and the issues that remote learning has for some learners. We want to get all further education learners, including English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) students, back into education settings as soon as the scientific advice allows because it is the best place for them to learn, and because we know how important it is for their mental wellbeing to have social interactions with their peers and teachers. From Autumn 2020, all learners will return to a full high-quality education programme delivered by their college or post-16 learning provider. We have also introduced a change to the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) Adult Education Budget (AEB) Funding Rules for 2020-21 academic year, to enable providers to use their Learner Support funds to purchase IT devices for learners (aged 19+) and to help them meet learners’ IT connectivity costs, where these costs are a barrier to accessing or continuing in their training.

We fund adults through the £1.34 billion AEB for a range of courses and qualifications, including ESOL, so adults can secure the English language skills they need. Following the devolution of approximately half of the AEB, seven Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs), and the Greater London Authority (GLA), are now responsible for determining adult English language (and other) provision in their areas. Eligible adults resident in non-devolved areas of England are funded through the ESFA AEB and can access fully-funded ESOL if they are unemployed, looking for work and in receipt of certain benefits, or if they are employed and in receipt of a low-wage. All other ESFA AEB-eligible learners are co-funded with the Government contributing 50% of the course cost. ESFA allocations for 2020-21 have been confirmed, and payments will be made in line with the national profile, which has been confirmed in the ESFA AEB Funding and Performance Management Rules for 2020-21. We are looking carefully at further education funding, including ESOL, in preparation for the forthcoming Spending Review. Further information on the AEB funding rules for 2020-21 is available here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/adult-education-budget-aeb-funding-rules-2020-to-2021.

We do not ring-fence a particular amount of the ESFA AEB budget for ESOL, so colleges and training providers have the freedom and flexibility to determine how they use their AEB allocation to meet the needs of their communities. They are responsible for planning, with local partners, which ESOL courses can be delivered locally. We want to support all adults in England to secure the English language skills they need. While we are keen to support the learners who are most in need, we also believe that those who decide to settle in the UK have a responsibility to invest their own time and resources into learning English.