Members of the public are divided on UK prime minister Rishi Sunak’s crackdown on “rip-off degrees”, while “misunderstanding” in their notion that going to university makes people lean left on economics suggests narratives about “woke” universities may have had impact, according to polling and analysis.
Queen Mary University of London’s Mile End Institute – a centre studying and promoting public discussion of the major challenges facing British politics and policymaking – looked at public attitudes on the value of universities, via YouGov polling of 1,066 adults living in London.
The polling asked about Mr Sunak’s announcement of a plan to cap student numbers on courses in England falling below the Office for Students’ quality thresholds, a plan the prime minister billed as targeting “rip-off degrees”.
It found 33 per cent of Londoner respondents supported the policy, 33 per cent opposed it, while a further 34 per cent either didn’t know how they felt about the policy, or neither supported nor opposed it.
