Higher Education (Family Incomes)

Mr. Keith Bradley

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills how many families with at least one child in higher education had an income of less than £10,000 in each of the last five years. [94440]

[holding answer 30 January 2003]: I refer my right hon. Friend to the reply given by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State to my hon. Friend the Member for Birmingham, Selly Oak (Lynn Jones) on 6 February 2003, Official Report, column 358W. Historic data are not available for students from families with parental residual¹ income below the threshold for means-tested tuition fee support. The current student support scheme introduced in 1998–99, provides students with full fee support if their income is below the threshold. Under the mandatory awards scheme in

Number of higher education students (thousands) assessed to receive full student support in England and Wales¹
Academic year 1996–97 to 2000–01²
Academic year³
	1996–97	1997–98	1998–99⁴	1999–2000	2000–01⁵
Residual income threshold level for dependent students (£)	16,050	16,450	16,945	17,370	17,805
Residual income threshold level for independent students (£)	12,700	13,105	13,405	14,700	15,070
Student support scheme students⁶,⁷
Dependent students	—	—	69	148	194
Independent students	—	—	39	68	95
Total all students	—	—	108	216	289
Mandatory scheme students⁸
Dependent students	199	201	134	81	27
Independent students	144	137	77	40	12
Total all students	343	337	211	121	39
Total all students⁹
Dependent students	199	201	203	229	221
Independent students	144	137	116	108	107
Total all students	343	337	319	337	328
¹ The table shows awards made by local education authorities in England and Wales to students normally domiciled in their area.
² Provisional.
³ New students in 1998–99 received support for maintenance through income-assessed grants (comprising about a quarter of the support available) and non income-assessed student loans (about three quarters of the support available). From 1999–2000, students who entered higher education from 1998–99 onwards received support for maintenance entirely through loans, of which approximately three-quarters of the value was non income-assessed.
⁴ Data in 1998–99 include an estimated 15,000 student support scheme students in England and Wales who, because they did not expect to receive a contribution to their support from public funds did not make an application to their local authority.
⁵ Data for academic year 2000–01 are provisional.
⁶ Student support scheme funding arrangements in higher education came into effect from the start of the 1998–99 academic year, thus accounting for the apparent steep rise in student numbers through the academic years.
⁷ Most new students in 1998–99, 1999–2000 and 2000–01 were expected to contribute up to £1,000, £1,025 and £1,050 respectively towards the cost of their tuition depending on family income.
⁸ Students who entered higher education up to 1997–98 and those who entered in 1998–99 to whom the mandatory scheme funding arrangements applied received support for maintenance through income-assessed grants.
⁹ Totals may not add through due to roundings.

Volume 400: debated on Monday 24 February 2003