The trouble with Rishi Sunak’s ‘Mickey Mouse’ degree crackdown

Rishi Sunak is a big fan of a ‘crack down’. He has previously vowed to crack down on migration, anti-social behaviour and climate protests. ‘Rip off’ university courses that ‘don’t offer the prospect of a decent job at the end of it’ are the PM’s latest target. But Sunak’s tough talk and aggressive rhetoric smacks of over-compensating for any lack of real detail.

Politicians love to poke fun at ‘Mickey Mouse’ degrees, but rarely define what they actually mean. In an interview on Good Morning Britain, higher education minister Robert Halfon couldn’t name a single degree, salary threshold or ‘good job’ against which the criteria for a ‘Mickey Mouse’ degree could be set.

It’s easier to sardonically mock fake degrees like puppetry at Arsehampton Former Polytenic than it is to give real policy content or evidence. Universities already face fines from the Office for Students (OFS) if they do not meet targets for ensuring students complete courses and are in graduate jobs 15 months after university.