Higher Education (Fee Limits and Student Support) (England) (Coronavirus) (Revocation) Regulations 2020

However, as noble Lords will be aware, there were unexpected issues with the A-level grading, resulting in the decision to use centre assessment grades, where those were higher than the calculated grades that were initially awarded, so as to avoid some students receiving grades that did not accurately reflect their performance. It then became clear that an unexpectedly high number of students had met the grades required to meet the conditions of the offer for their first choice place at university. This was in large part an issue of timing, with the move to centre assessment grades coming shortly after higher education providers had allocated the majority of their places. As a result, many providers were oversubscribed and would have been at risk of exceeding their student number control if they honoured these offers, through no fault of their own. We therefore announced our intention to remove the temporary student number controls for the coming academic year, a decision that was widely welcomed by the sector and Members across both Houses.

The introduction of these regulations, revoking the original regulations, means that the temporary number controls that were previously notified to providers will no longer apply, nor will the financial consequences of exceeding their student number controls, which would be unfair in these unique and unprecedented circumstances. I beg to move.

My noble friend has obviously been thinking hard about protecting the universities as institutions. Could we think a little harder about protecting the students, who are having a terrible time? It is a terrible time induced by a policy which is about protecting the elderly. Young people are seen to be less at risk from the consequences of Covid, but they are taking the brunt of the consequences of the measures being used to combat it.