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 ¨C a centre studying and promoting public discussion of the major challenges facing British politics and policymaking ¨C 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.

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The policy was ¡°strongly supported¡± by 12 per cent, but ¡°strongly opposed¡± by 19 per cent.

Elizabeth Simon, a postdoctoral researcher in British politics at the Mile End Institute, said it was ¡°interesting to note how this policy seems to play much better with some groups than others; for example, older Londoners are much more supportive of this than younger Londoners, as are those who voted Leave and those who voted Conservative in 2019¡±.

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While the policy ¡°doesn¡¯t resonate with London respondents overall, it does resonate much more clearly with those Londoners who are the key voters the Conservatives will be targeting ahead of an upcoming election¡±, she added.

Just 7 per cent of respondents thought that studying at university offers no benefits to individuals (rising to 11 per cent among Londoners without degrees), while 9 per cent of respondents believed universities offer no benefits to society (rising to 14 per cent among Londoners without degrees).

Dr Simon said there was ¡°a clear consensus among the vast majority of Londoners ¨C regardless of whether they themselves have attended university ¨C that universities offer important benefits both to the individuals that attend these institutions and to society more generally¡±.

The polling also found that 67 per cent of respondents thought that the experience of studying at university generally changes individuals¡¯ attitudes and values. Of those who thought that was the case, 43 per cent believed the experience of studying at university ¡°makes individuals more socially liberal¡±; 24 per cent believed the experience of studying at university ¡°makes individuals more economically left-leaning¡±; and 24 per cent believed the experience of studying at university ¡°makes individuals more pro-EU¡±.

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That was against?only 7 per cent who thought the experience of studying at university ¡°makes individuals more economically right-leaning¡±.

Dr Simon was the?author of a previous paper?analysing data on siblings to conclude that studying at university ¡°only has a modest?direct causal effect?on British graduates¡¯ [political] attitudes¡±; with that effect ¡°only liberalising in the case of gender-role attitudes ¨C HE attendees actually develop slightly more conservative economic and environmental adult attitudes, relative to non-attendees¡±.?Other UK research has also suggested?that going to university makes people more right-wing on economics.

Dr Simon said the fact that ¡°people are more likely to say university moves economic attitudes to the left than right¡± ¨C a ¡°misunderstanding¡±?that is ¡°contrary to the academic evidence¡± ¨C was ¡°unsurprising¡± to her.

¡°I wonder whether this relates to the ¡®woke¡¯ universities discourse we¡¯ve seen play out in the media in recent years,¡± she added. ¡°Perhaps these results show that this has taken hold in the minds of the public.¡±

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john.morgan@timeshighereducation.com