Who should students vote for in the general election?

29 November 2019
Updated 3 December 2019

This is looking like it'll be the most important general election for a generation, so let us take you through the biggest talking points from each of the major parties' manifestos.

Unless you've been living under a rock for the last few weeks, you'll have seen that there's the small matter of a general election coming up.

We know it can be hard to make sense of all the political chat, and with all the exams and deadlines you've got at this time of year, we can see why it's tempting to give the election a miss.

But your vote really matters, and if you're going to cast one, it should be on an informed basis! Scroll through to read about each major party's policies on all the big topics, or use the quick links below to jump to the areas that matter most to you.

The order of the parties in each section is purely alphabetical – nothing more sinister than that, promise!

2019 general election manifestos

We'll summarise all the key talking points from each of the major areas of policy in a second, but if you'd like to read the manifestos yourself, here are the direct links:

Why are only some policies featured below?

big ben clock tower

We wanted to make this guide as useful and as relevant as possible for students in the UK. So, as we didn't fancy typing out the entirety of each manifesto, we asked students in our Facebook group which issues they felt were most important.

Hundreds of you responded, and we've used that data to decide which areas to cover (and in what order).

We've only included policies that are explicitly mentioned in each party's manifestos, but we would encourage you to do some further reading as some parties are making extra pledges on top of these.

And, as the election rumbles on, we'd strongly recommend checking out some independent fact-checking sites, like Full Fact.

Don't get us wrong, we've tried our best to pick out the verifiable lies in the manifestos – both the Brexit Party and UKIP, for example, pledged to scrap the target of sending 50% of young people to university. This 'target' was a symbolic goal announced by Tony Blair in the late 1990s and was never official policy, so we've not included these pledges below.

But we can't spot everything, and as organisations like Full Fact do this kind of detective work for a living, you should give them a visit!

Universities and tuition fees policies

graduates throwing hats up

With students graduating with more debt than ever before, it's hardly a surprise that all the major parties address university fees and funding in some way in their manifestos.

To help you get an idea of who's promising what, we've summarised all the main pledges on tuition fees, Student Loans and universities below:

Brexit Party

Abolish the interest on Student Loans.

Conservatives

Look at the interest rates on Student Loan repayments with the aim of reducing student debt.
Reinstate Maintenance Grants for student nurses.
Tackle grade inflation and low-quality courses.
Improve the system of applying to, and being offered a place at, university.
Strengthen academic freedom and free speech in universities.

DUP

Nothing specific to higher education in the manifesto.

Green Party

Abolish tuition fees.
Cancel the existing debt of any graduates who have paid £9,000 a year or more for their tuition.
Reinstate Maintenance Grants for student nurses.

Labour

Create a National Education Service to provide everyone with free education for life (including scrapping tuition fees).
Bring back Maintenance Grants.
Widen participation in higher education, including for part-time students.

Liberal Democrats

Strengthen the Office for Students (the independent regulator for universities), with the aim of improving education for all students.
Introduce a Student Mental Health Charter.
Bring back Maintenance Grants.
Establish a review of fees and funding in higher education.
Widen participation in higher education.

Plaid Cymru

Work towards making higher education free for all.
Review the funding on offer for undergraduate and postgraduate students living and studying in Wales, including a subsidy for Welsh students who study in Wales.
Offer free tuition to specific groups and those studying specific subjects.
Protect participation in Erasmus+ (if and when we leave the EU).

Scottish National Party

Retain free tuition in Scotland for Scottish students.

Sinn Féin

Not explicitly addressed in manifesto.

UKIP

Scrap tuition fees for further and higher education courses in science, technology, mathematics and medicine courses (as long as graduates of these courses work in the UK for five years).

Take a look at our Big Fat Guide to Student Finance for more info on the current state of fees and funding.