Industrial strategy vs journalism: The battle for UK university funding
The future of journalism courses in UK higher education is under threat after the government confirmed plans to divert funding away from media and communications courses and towards subjects more directly tied to its industrial strategy.
In May, ministers announced a £108m cut to the Strategic Priorities Grant (SPG) for 2025-26 – reducing the total funding to £1.35bn, in a fall of just over seven per cent compared to the previous year.
The grant, distributed by the Office for Students (OfS), provides additional support for courses that have higher-than-average costs due to the need for special facilities or specific equipment.
In its guidance to the OfS, the Department for Education instructed the institutions to “reprioritise” funding away from journalism, media studies, publishing, and information services courses.
Instead, money will be directed into high-cost STEM and healthcare programmes – including nursing, midwifery and medicine – as well as courses linked to strategic growth sectors such as advanced manufacturing, digital and technologies, life sciences, clean energy, defence, and financial services.
Although the government acknowledged the “invaluable role which journalism plays in the fabric of our society”, it said its funding priorities must reflect areas “set out in the Industrial Strategy”.
Ministers argue journalism courses will still benefit indirectly from a 3.1 per cent rise in tuition fees for the new academic year – though that increase is likely to be insufficient to cover the cost of most courses.
What does cost cutting mean for journalism?
The decision has sparked a strong response from the media sector. Four journalism education bodies, together with the National Council for the Training of Journalists (NCTJ), have launched the “Save Quality Journalism” campaign, warning the cuts risk undermining “access, quality and opportunity” in an area of study already under financial pressure.
Joanne Forbes, chief executive of the NCTJ, said the move sends “a damaging message about the value of journalism education at a time when quality, trusted journalism is more important than ever”.
Universities have also raised concerns that cuts could exacerbate existing pressures. Pervez Khan, senior lecturer in investigative journalism at De Montfort University, told City PM that falling student interest in journalism courses, combined with industry transformation and reduced government funding, is proving unsustainable.
“On one hand, you have a redefining of the industry. The old models of legacy media and broadcasting are being fragmented in many ways.
“The result of this change, coupled with government funding being reduced, means that universities, which are at the same time going through their own financial firestorm, are no longer able to supply the delivery of some courses,” Khan said.
He added that with high inflation and without additional funding for student maintenance and living expenses, it could reverse progress on widening access.
“The big institutions will survive. But my fear is that the system will go back to being open only to middle and upper-class people, and this means the voices of people from underrepresented backgrounds will be lost. The societal damage is right now invisible, but it could be immense.”
While the government aims to target high-cost funding towards provision that support the industrial growth strategies, data from Universities UK points to a growing gap between supply and demand.
Between 2016 and 2024, enrolment in high-cost courses fell from 52 to 47 per cent of total provision, even as applications rose by nearly 15 per cent.
The concern is even greater given that graduates of high-cost subjects are 1.5 times more likely to work in government-designated growth sectors three years after leaving university.
Difficulties covering the costs
Universities are struggling to cover the extra expenses of running these courses. Since 2019, government grants have dropped by almost 20 per cent, according to Universities UK’s findings.
Meeting the government’s ambitions for growth and productivity will require more graduates in high-cost fields – not fewer.
The strain is also being felt in research and development. Universities UK found that almost 20 per cent of institutions cut back on academic R&D spending last year, and nearly 80 per cent are considering further reductions over the next three years.
This comes despite university research generating an estimated £63bn for the UK economy, with every £1 of public investment returning £9.90 through research and knowledge exchange, and supporting more than 120,000 jobs.