Higher Education minister Andrea Jenkyns says universities would rather young people get degrees in ‘Harry Potter studies’ instead of construction

• Ms Jenkyns was speaking at Tory Party conference fringe event earlier today 
• She claimed that education is no longer the ‘sole preserve’ of universities in UK
• Minister said government is committed to crackdown on low-quality courses

Higher Education minister Andrea Jenkyns has accused universities of preferring their students to achieving degrees in ‘Harry Potter studies’ over construction.

Ms Jenkyns, reappointed minister for skills, further and higher education last month, told a Tory Party conference fringe event today that education is no longer the ‘sole preserve’ of universities.

She argued that a ‘skilled modern economy’ requires technical skills as much as it needs graduates, adding that the ‘current system’ favours degrees in ‘Harry Potter studies’.

As a result, she said the government is committed to cracking down on low-quality university courses.

Ms Jenkyns also insisted that, in some cases, universities are feeding students ‘a diet of critical race theory, anti-British history and sociological Marxism’ that the government is determined to provide an alternative to.

She told the Bruges Group event: ‘A skilled modern economy competing on the global stage requires technical skills just as much as it needs graduates.

Higher Education minister Andrea Jenkyns today accused universities of preferring to have their students achieving a degree in ‘Harry Potter studies’ over construction

She today said that the government is committed to cracking down on low-quality university courses

‘Yet the current system would rather our young people get a degree in Harry Potter studies than the apprentices shaping construction.

‘It doesn’t take magic powers to work out that this is wrong, which is why the Government is committed to putting the broomstick to good use and carrying out a spring clean of low-quality courses.’

Ms Jenkyns’ remarks come after Durham University opened a Harry Potter module that used the works of JK Rowling ‘to examine prejudice, citizenship and bullying in modern society’.

She has insisted that ‘if a course isn’t providing someone with a positive outcome”, it makes ‘no sense’ the Government ‘should be funding it’.

The minister added: ‘I’m determined to make sure that the skills we give our young people are fit for the future, in some cases they simply aren’t getting this at universities.

‘They’re being fed a diet of critical race theory, anti-British history and sociological Marxism, which is why this Government is determined to provide an alternative.’

Ms Jenkyns’ remarks come after Durham University opened a Harry Potter module that used the works of JK Rowling

The fringe event, which was titled Getting Brexit Done and Overcoming the Economic Crisis, also saw the panellists discuss the BBC’s impartiality.

Ms Jenkyns criticised the broadcaster for having ’10 different genders’ on ‘the portal where teachers access the music portal’, before adding: ‘I think, actually, the BBC is part of the problem personally.’

She insisted that if anybody is ‘capable of taking the BBC on’ it is the new Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan.

Fellow Tory MP Sir Bill Cash, who took part in the debate alongside Conservative former Cabinet minister Sir John Redwood and Ms Jenkyns, told audience members he has been ‘tracking the BBC and its impartiality issues for the best part of 35 years’.

He went on: ‘I am a supporter of the idea of the BBC. But please, BBC, will you reform yourselves because otherwise you will be reformed by Parliament.’

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