Pandemic ‘exposed the market model’ of higher education

Labour conference: MPs call for post-Covid quality education and secure contracts

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed the creeping “market model” of higher education, Labour MPs have said, as they called for a new system that provides “high-quality, accessible education” and “well-paid, secure contracts”.

Speaking at a Labour fringe event on 26 September, Against the Market: Public education after the pandemic, shadow education secretary Kate Green said the pandemic had “exacerbated and exaggerated” existing problems, tensions and difficulties within the sector, including the deficiencies of the so-called “market model” of higher education.