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Students: Grants

Volume 463: debated on Monday 3 September 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) what percentage of university level students receive education grants; (151154)

(2) how many university level students receive education grants.

Data on maintenance and higher education grants for students in England 2006/071 applying for support through the Student Loans Company are given in the tables.

Maintenance grants were introduced for new full-time English domiciled students entering higher education in 2006/07, and replaced the higher education grant. The maximum amount of support available is £2,700 a year, and how much a student receives depends on their income and that of their household.

1 Data for 2006/07 are provisional

Distribution of maintenance grants

Student numbers (thousand)1, 2

Percentage of total

Students in receipt of a full maintenance grant

80

29

Students in receipt of a partial maintenance grant

61

22

Students in receipt of a nil maintenance grant

133

49

Total

275

100

1 Includes the Special Support Grant which is payable to vulnerable groups of students who are eligible for Department for Work and Pensions benefits.

2 Student numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand

Source:

Student Loans Company (SLC)

Students who entered higher education in 2004/05 and 2005/06 may be eligible for a means-tested higher education grant of up to £1,000.

Distribution of higher education grants

Student numbers (thousand)1

Percentage of total2

Students in receipt of a full HE grant

115

26

Students in receipt of a partial HE grant

26

6

Students in receipt of no HE grant

309

69

Total

451

100

1 Student numbers are rounded to the nearest thousand.

2 Totals may not add due to roundings.

Source:

Student Loans Company (SLC)

We have just announced improvements to the student finance package which will help students and graduates manage their finances better. For entrants to HE from 2008/09, the maintenance grant income thresholds have been raised making one third of students eligible for a full grant and another third eligible for a partial grant.