Funding for training of professional journalists

That this House is worried by guidance issued by the Secretary of State for Education to the Office for Students which suggests that the Department has decided to withdraw Strategic Priorities Grant funding from journalism courses for the 2025-26 financial year; shares the concerns of the National Union of Journalists and National Council for the Training of Journalists that pathways into journalism are needed now more than ever, to counter harmful misinformation and disinformation shared online; notes 84% of working journalists who studied for a higher education qualification in journalism cite this as helping them to secure their first job in the industry; and therefore calls on the Department of Education to conduct a thorough review of their planned reductions in funding for journalism and related courses and commit to providing the necessary funding for these courses going forwards as part of the Post-16 Education and Skills Strategy white paper.