The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI), alongside the Nuffield Foundation and London Economics, has just released a new report looking at the policies proposed by each major party on universities and higher education, and how much they will cost.

So, these are the policy promises of each UK political party on universities on higher education and how much they all plan to spend:

Conservatives

Via YouTube

The Tories’ manifesto mentions little about higher education, apart from the desire to limit the number of so-called “low value” degrees and use any cost savings to fund more apprenticeships.

The manifesto says that courses with excessive dropout rates or that “leave students worse off than had they not gone to university” will be stopped from recruiting new students. This will apparently “protect students from being missold and the taxpayer from having to pay where the graduate can’t.”

The Conservatives are proposing no changes to the current student loan and fees system for UK students. This is estimated to cost around £2.01 billion per cohort of undergrads students.

The taxpayer contributes 16 per cent of the total cost of higher education provision per year in England, while students contribute the remaining 84 per cent.

Labour

Via YouTube

Labour’s manifesto mentions that it will “continue to support the aspirations of every person who meets the requirements and wants to go to university”.

However, the report mentions that the lack of detail in the Labour Party’s manifesto means HEPI was unable to specifically model commitments on higher education fees and funding.

It does, however, say: “The current higher education funding settlement does not work for the taxpayer, universities staff, or students. Labour will act to create a secure future for higher education and the opportunities it creates across the UK. We will work with universities to deliver for students and our economy.”

Labour also plans to “better integrate further and higher education so that transition between the sectors becomes more seamless for learners.”

Green Party

Via YouTube

With perhaps the biggest promises of all the parties, the Green Party plans to completely abolish tuition fees. This is estimated to cost the Exchequer six times more than the current spend on higher education with an increase of £11.95 billion per year.

They also plan in the future to cancel all graduate debt.

The manifesto reads: “Marketisation has been disastrous for higher education, changing the relationship between students and academic faculty, pushing universities into financial crisis, and burdening a whole generation of students with debts so high that they are ruining their life chances.

“We would fully fund every higher education student, restoring maintenance grants and scrapping undergraduate tuition fees. Our long-term plans also include seeking to cancel the injustice of graduate debt.”

Liberal Democrats

Via YouTube

The Lib Dems are proposing the reintroduction of means-tested maintenance grants to benefit the least well-off students. The manifesto reads: “We will reinstate maintenance grants for disadvantaged students immediately to make sure that living costs are not a barrier to studying at university.”

This would cost £1.31 billion more per year, according to the HEPI report.

the Lib Dems also promise to: “Ensure that all universities work to widen participation by disadvantaged and underrepresented groups across the sector.”

Reform UK

Via YouTube

Finally, Reform UK want to restrict student numbers, enforce minimum entry standards, stop “cancel culture” and make courses two years as well as remove student loan interest rates and extend the repayment period of student loans from 40 to 45 years.

This would cost the Exchequer £4.48 billion more, due to the elimination of inflation-indexed loan interest rates.

The Exchequer would contribute 52 per cent of the total cost of higher education provision. The extension of the loan repayment period would have essentially no impact in itself, and would therefore not impact any of the additional costs associated with the removal of interest rates, according to HEPI.

Reform UK’s manifesto regarding unis reads: “Scrap interest on student loans: Extend loan capital repayment period to 45 years. Restrict undergraduate numbers well below current levels, too many courses are simply not good enough and students are being ripped off. Enforce minimum entry standards.”

Reform also plans to “cut funding to universities that undermine free speech”. The manifesto says “allowing political bias or cancel culture must face heavy financial penalties.”

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Lorenza Sofrá is an economics and business grad from LUISS Guido Carli University in Rome. Her thesis is titled: “Navigating the Modern Career Landscape: A Comparative Analysis of Olivia Rodrigo’s Career Trajectory and the Protean and Boundaryless Career Model” and it explores Olivia Rodrigo’s career path.

But at the final show of the Europe leg of the GUTS Tour in Lisbon, Lorenza managed to get noticed by Olivia herself who spotted her sign from the crowd and signed her dissertation. “I was in shock and couldn’t believe it was happening,” Lorenza told The Tab. “I was completely overwhelmed, crying uncontrollably.”

Lorenza has been a huge fan of Olivia Rodrigo ever since the start of her career. “Even before she released Driver’s License,” she said. But she believes she shares some “remarkable similarities” with Oliva that make her music extremely relatable to her, including that they were both born in 2003 and are both Pisces.

“Olivia is the only artist I am completely obsessed with and I never get tired of listening to her. I feel a deep connection to her and her work, which is why I knew I wanted to include her in my thesis. Initially, I didn’t anticipate that my thesis would be entirely about her, but my strong connection to her artistry made it an inevitable choice.”

@lorenza.sofra

Please tag @Olivia Rodrigo @livies hq

♬ suono originale – Lolla

Lorenza wasn’t initially planning on writing her whole diss on Olivia and her work as she “didn’t think it would be possible” so originally thought about just including her in some way. But her final proposal was all about her and “to my surprise, my supervisor approved it,” she told The Tab.

The Italian student really enjoyed writing her Olivia Rodrigo diss and she said writing about such a fun topic definitely made it more relaxing and enjoyable. But one of the highlights of the whole process was that she actually got to speak to Jennifer Dustman, Olivia’s vocal coach from when she was younger. “She offered incredible insights into the early stages of Olivia’s career, which added a fascinating dimension to my work,” Lorenza said.

For her work, Lorenza “delved into the smallest details of Olivia’s career, ensuring a comprehensive analysis. In the final chapter, I connected all the elements to explain which type of career path Olivia Rodrigo is following.”

So after all the hard work, she said she was determined to be noticed by Olivia and get her to sign her dissertation. So before the Lisbon show she decided to make a sign which reads: ““I wrote my bachelor’s degree thesis about you, can you sign it?”

She started queuing at the venue around 11am to get near the front to try and be noticed and she did! As she was holding up the sign, Olivia noticed it and said: “Oh my gosh. There’s a sign that says ‘I wrote my bachelor’s degree thesis about you, can you sign it?’ Fuck yes, smart girl! Oh my god! I wonder what your work is about, wow. Look at that!”

She then passes it to her and she looks through it and says: “Oh my god she really did! This is amazing! It’s so thick I think this is thicker than my own diary!”

She read out the title and added: “Wow, you’re so cool! This is like the coolest thing ever, you’re so smart you are making me feel smarter! Congrats smart girl” before signing it and writing: “All my love, thanks for coming, Olivia Rodrigo.”

Whilst it was happening, Lorenza said: “I found myself on the floor, overwhelmed with joy and crying. She mentioned my thesis two more times during the show, once before performing jealousy, jealousy and again when she caught a shirt from a fan. It was unbelievable and surreal.

@lorenza.sofra

THANK U🩷 @Olivia Rodrigo

♬ teenage dream –

“Olivia is truly the sweetest person. She was incredibly kind throughout our interaction, taking her time to check out my thesis, read the title, and even call me smart a few times. I am so grateful to her and couldn’t be happier.”

Alexa, play jealousy, jealousy by Olivia Rodrigo!

Have you written your diss on something equally as iconic and wanna be featured? Let us know by emailing emily@thetab.com. 

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We know they are no longer together, given that Reynolds is notably absent from the main series of Bridgerton, but what actually happened to him? There are a load of fan theories flying about left, right and centre but we don’t have any concrete answers.

But! Stop the press! A Bridgerton viewer thinks they have actually spotted a grown up Reynolds in the background of Bridgerton season three and my heart is racing right now.

@spicybookmama posted a video on TikTok with the caption: “Is ths Reynolds? Shonda confirmed he’s bit dead… but where is he?” alongside a screenshot from the final episode of Bridgerton season three when Pen is making her big confession.

Via TikTok

In the background of the shot we’ve got Queen Charlotte, Brimsley and a male servant with blonde hair who looks an awful lot like he could be the older version of Reynolds. I am freaking out right now!! Maybe they ended up together after all?

People in the comments are very torn about the theory, with a lot of people very excited and shocked by it, whereas others are convinced it couldn’t be him. One person said: “Oh my god he’s a dead ringer” and another person commented: “WAIT because he has the same colours Brimsley has when he was young and old Brimsley wears the same colours young Reynolds had.”

However other people are convinced it couldn’t be him as he would be with the King at all times.

Via Netflix

I am praying so hard this is true right now and that we get an update on Reynold and Brimsley’s story!

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QS has just released its Best Student Cities Ranking 2025 and it ranks what cities around the world are like to live in as a student. The ranking takes into account factors such as the proportion of the city’s population that are students, how many unis the city has which are in the QS World University Rankings, how safe the city is, affordability, pollution levels, employment levels and the percentage of students who decided to stay in the city after graduating.

Nearly half of all the 24 Russell Group unis made it to the rankings, ranging from the top spot all the way down to 64th.

So these are the Russell Group uni cities that have been recognised as some of the best places to live as a student across the planet right now:

64. Sheffield

Sheffield is the lowest ranking Russell Group uni city to make the ranking. With an overall score of 70.4, its best score comes from its student mix ranking (where it places 30th) with 14,300 students coming from outside the UK.

54. Liverpool

Via Laurie Byrne on Unsplash

Liverpool is the 54th best uni city to live in across the world. It ranks 71st for affordability and 18th for student view of the city.

53. Leeds

The ninth-best Russell Group uni city, Leeds ranks at 53rd. With two unis making it into the QS World rankings, Leeds gets its highest score in the student view indicator, ranking joint 36th. This is based on a student survey which collects responses from students around the world.

51. Nottingham

Just missing out on the top 50 in the world, Nottingham is the 51st best student city and eighth best Russell Group. It ranks 82nd for affordability and 61st for desirability.

48. Birmingham

With an overall score of 76.6 out of 10, Birmingham is 48th in the world. It has three unis featured in the QS World Uni Ranking and is the 23rd best in the world for student view.

45. Bristol

Via Jarred Kyle on Unsplash

At 45th overall, Bristol is the sixth-best Russell Group uni city to live in right now. Bristol’s highest scores are for the student mix indicator (ranking joint 19th) and the student voice indicator (ranking 26th).

39. Newcastle

The fifth-best Russell Group uni city, Newcastle is 39th in the world. It has an overall score of 80.9 out of 100 and scores highly for student view (25th overall).

33. Glasgow

The second highest-scoring Scottish uni, Glasgow is 33rd overall. It scores extremely highly for student view at 5th but is poor in affordability at joint 95th.

27. Manchester

The third-best Russell Group uni city is Manchester, scoring 27th best on the planet. It has three unis featuring in the QS World Rankings and scores 80th for affordability,

13. Edinburgh

Via Ross Findlay on Unsplash

The only other UK uni to make it into the top 20 is Edinburgh. At 13th overall, it is the second-best Russell Group uni city. A much smaller city compared to others on the list, it has a population of 488,000.

1. London

And officially the number one city you can live in as a student across the planet is London. With an overall perfect score of 100, London is home to a huge 18 unis featured in the QS World uni Rankings 2025, with two of these (Imperial and UCL) making it into the top 10. London is fourth for employer activity and third for student view overall. However, it is no surprise that London ranks poorly for affordability, at 126th overall.

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This error was spotted by someone on TikTok who apparently used to work at Netflix and is now really good at spotting them. It happens in the very first episode of the new season, around 15 minutes in, when Colin returns from his travels and is chatting to the young ladies of the ton.

Via Netflix

Colin is speaking to a group of women, including the lady in the yellow on the left. But then he turns to walk away to the next group of ladies and the same woman is there in that group, looking shocked to see him! So she’s either a VERY quick walker, a time traveller or has mastered teleportation.

Via Netflix

@maroonwench who pointed out the mistake on TikTok said she thinks she has an idea of what happened with the error. She said: “The extras will be in full costume ready to go and they’ll be sitting in like a holding/waiting area. Then once everything is set up for the scene, and they do it in little bits and pieces right, the PAs will come around into the holding area and they’ll pick the extras for the particular scene and they don’t have it very thoroughly scripted out for the extras it’ll just say something like ‘Colin talks to three women’. So they’ll go in and pick three women from the extras. And the extras are normally 100 people waiting around to be pulled for the scene.”

She added: “Then sometimes even though it appears to be a short clip for us when we’re viewing it, that might have taken about two or three days to film. So it might have been the next day or hours later where they’re like ‘Wait okay we’re gonna do you here actually’. And they’re not always paying attention to who got pulled already.”

The more you know!

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Featured image before edits via Netflix. 

But it looks like there was one scene, or one character even that we were robbed of in season three of Bridgerton and that’s young Colin!

So, this picture was doing the rounds on TikTok before season three of Bridgerton was released and we were all primed and ready for there to be flashback scenes of little baby Colin and also maybe young Penelope too. It shows a child dressed up as little Colin outside his trailer on the Bridgerton set.

Via TikTok

But when the show was actually released we were all so caught up in things like editing errors, hidden meanings and just obsessing over Polin that we forgot ever seeing that Young Colin picture. But now we remember and we are MOURNING the baby Colin scenes! Look at his little pose! His mini waistcoat! I am obsessed.

Someone posted a TikTok talking about the missing Young Colin scenes with the caption: “Bridgerton deleted scene this… Bridgerton deleted scene that… I want this scene!” Alongside the picture of Young Colin.

People in the comments are also equally distraught about the missing scenes. One person said: “I SAW THIS PICTURE BEFORE I was waiting for scenes with young Colin. Young Colin and Pen’s first time meeting would’ve solved all my problems.” Another person added: “Wait was there actually meant to be young Colin flashbacks ”

Bridgerton I am begging you to let me see them, please.

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As she played the introduction to the song, which is heavily assumed to be about her years-long drama with Kim K, she told the crowd: “It really makes me think about how every time someone talks shit, it just makes me work even harder and it makes me even tougher. So, it also makes me incredibly thankful for those people.” Yikes.

After hearing Taylor’s sly dig, one Swiftie on X said: “Taylor just basically confirmed that thanK you aIMee is a million per cent about Kim.” Another fan added: “Kim Kardashian was found crying.” The drama!

Taylor released thanK you aIMee on her latest album The Tortured Poets Department which came out in April. The song explores a story of a feud that Taylor had with a woman called Aimee from her home town who was a bully who ended up being celebrated. Taylor talks about the pain the bully caused and how the bullying actually made her stronger and more determined to build a legacy.

In the song’s chorus, Taylor sings: “All that time you were throwin’ punches, I was buildin’ something”, and everyone thinks this is a reference to the infamous 2016 drama when Kanye West released his song Famous with the lyrics “I feel like me and Taylor might still have sex. Why? I made that bitch famous.” Kim then claimed Taylor gave him permission to use the lyric and even released a clip of a phone call of them discussing it, which Taylor denied.

After all the drama, Taylor disappeared and then wrote and released Reputation, which people have understood as her “building something” from the song.

But, the biggest clue to the song being a huge dig at Kim K is in the bridge of the song. Taylor sings: “One day, your kid comes home singin’ a song that only us two is gonna know is about you” which is a reference to Kim Kardashian’s daughter North West posting TikToks of her dancing to Taylor Swift including one which Kim joined in dancing to Shake It Off.

Kim K quaking right now.

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Featured image via Disney+ and YouTube.

The 17-year-old, who was studying at Blundell’s private school in Devon, claimed to be sleepwalking but carried out a “horrific attack” with intent to kill, the trial heard.

The attack took place on the 9th June last year and the two victims, who were 15 and 16 at the time, were taken to hospital in life-threatening conditions and now will never recover, the court heard.

After a two-month trial, he was found guilty today on all three counts of attempted murder by a majority verdict and will be sentenced in October.

The student said he never intended to kill the two students or teacher. “I feel very terribly sorry for all three individuals because of what I did to them. I feel very sorry for everyone, the families and themselves,” he told the jury.

Via SWNS

The student was wearing only his boxers and claimed he was sleepwalking when he carried out the attacks. He told the court he had the hammers to “prepare for the zombie apocalypse.”

The trial heard the two students had gone to bed and the victims were fast asleep and had been since before midnight.

Prosecutors told the trial the defendant then decided to “put into action a plan that he had been fermenting in his head for some time.”

James Dawes KC, told the jury: “That plan was to kill and he decided to do it while they slept in their own beds – and he decided to do it with a hammer.”

The trial heard he owned four claw hammers and selected one to then quietly climb up onto the top of the first cabin bed.

The lawyer added: “The boys were asleep and they both had heads on pillows and then he smashed the hammers into their heads as they slept. Multiple times.

“He also hit arms and backs, he didn’t just use the flat end of the hammer, he used the claw as well to strike these boys. These blows smashed their skulls. it broke through the skull driving pieces of bone into the brain.”

Blows to the back of one of the victims damaged his spleen, and broke a rib with its now sharp edge puncturing one of his lungs.

“Blood went everywhere”, he added.

Via SWNS

The student then went for the second victim who was also asleep and climbed up and he “smashed a hammer down onto his head multiple times as he slept”, the jury heard.

“Those blows broke his skull, driving pieces of bone into his brain and the membranes around the brain. He hit his upper arm with the hammer, claw side.”

The court heard it was “astonishing” that both students survived but James Dawes added: “Sadly neither of them will ever be the same again as they were prior to the attack. Both heads are permanently damaged and cognitive functions are not as they were.

“Mercifully neither has any memories of these attacks – they were both asleep. They recall going to bed and waking up in hospital some days later.”

The teacher Henry Roffe-Silvester then went to the students’ room to investigate the noise and was also attacked. As soon as he opened the door the student attacked him with a hammer. “He only knew he had been hit after he had been hit and did not see the blow coming,” the lawyer said.

“He was initially hit on the top of the head and a second blow struck him down onto the head. Mr Roffe-Silvester retreated down the corridor with (the defendant) striking him as he went down. Aiming at his face and head. Blood was pouring down his face and he was shouting at him to stop.”

But he did not stop and managed to get six blows to his head before the teacher managed to grab the hammer and stop the attack. He described the student as “expressionless” and said he “appeared to be on a mission” until he finally calmed down and squatted against a wall.

Via SWNS

The jury heard the student say he was stressed about a number of issues, including with his brother and owing money to a girl. He told one boy he had hammers because he was “watching horror movies lately and had them to protect himself.”

One paramedic who arrived at the scene described it as the “worst scene he had ever encountered in 20 years of ambulance care.” Another said he had served in Iraq and had never seen such a scene of carnage.

The jury was also played a 999 call made by another student. The student told the call handler: “He’s been hit on the head with a hammer. I just woke up to some shouting – a teacher and student have been hit with a hammer.”

In his evidence, the student who has now been found guilty of three counts of attempted murder, said: “I remember being in the room. The room was covered in blood. What I could see was blood. I didn’t hear anything.

“I remember walking out to the corridor.”

He added: “I knew something really bad had gone on and everyone was looking towards me. I didn’t remember doing anything so the only rational thing I was thinking was that I was sleepwalking.”

The boy said he did not intend to kill either Henry Roffe-Silvester or the two students.

He added: “I feel very terribly sorry for all three individuals because of what I did to them. I feel very sorry for everyone, the families and themselves.”

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Featured image before edits via SWNS.

The error actually happens across the season and is constantly switching, but is most prominent in part two, episode six in particular. After Francesca announces her engagement, Colin goes to his study to write (and you can actually read what he secretly writes here!) and Eloise follows him in.

We see him writing with a quill in his right hand scribbling away, the camera then pans to Eloise when she asks him if he’s moping about the chocolate macaroon. But when the camera goes back to Colin he is holding the quill and writing in his left hand!

Via Netflix

So is Colin ambidextrous or was this just a hilarious continuity error in the season? Well, we know from past interviews that in real life Luke Newton is actually left-handed whilst Colin is really right-handed. It was actually pretty rare for anyone to be left-handed in the Regency era as children were often taught it was bad and to write with their right hand instead.

Via Netflix

Not everyone absolutely OBSESSING with Colin’s hands this season. First, we had the fingers when fixing her dress in the carriage scene and now this!

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Featured image via Netflix. 

So much so that a petition was actually set up demanding Netflix restore the deleted scenes. It now has over 57,000 signatures.

Fans felt as though the final edit of the show didn’t do the relationship between Colin and Penelope justice and that the cut scenes would provide vital moments between the couple. They are therefore demanding Netflix and Shondaland to restore the deleted Bridgerton part two scenes into the original episodes or release them separately.

However, Nicola Coughlan herself has actually just denied these rumours about deleted scenes and said “You got all the Polin we had”. Awkward! Replying to an Instagram comment that said “Just imagine if they gave us the deleted scenes” Nicola said: “Aaah this is just a rumour! I think you got all the Polin we had but there’s lots of BTS still to share.”

As well as this, Bridgerton producer Tom Verica also replied to a comment which asked: “Can we please get an extended version of episode eight with Polin sex montage” where he called the whole thing a “myth”.

The scenes which fans thought were missing from the show were:

• Colin going home with Penelope after he finds her at the modiste, which leads to an angry kissing scene
• Polin laying in bed together talking about publishing Colin’s manuscripts
• Colin whispering sweet nothings to Pen in front of the mirror, kissing her neck and being playful
• Long intimate montage in episode eight (including a scene in which Colin goes down on Pen)

But it seems these scenes were never actually filmed in the first place and were not just deleted from the final edit of the show.

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