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Students: Grants

Volume 470: debated on Monday 7 January 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills (1) with reference to his written statement of 11 October 2007, Official Report, column 39WS, on higher education students' loans, grants and fees, if he will list the 100 constituencies which have the highest number of eligible students entitled to a (a) full maintenance grant and (b) partial maintenance grant; and if he will make a statement; (166624)

(2) which 20 constituencies have the (a) largest proportion of families who qualify for a full university grant, (b) largest (i) proportion and (ii) number of families qualifying for a full or partial university grant and (c) lowest proportion of young people attending university.

Question 166624 refers to the higher education maintenance grant, which will be worth up to £2,835 in academic year 2008-09. Information on the numbers of students in each parliamentary constituency who will be eligible for a full or partial grant in 2008-09 is not available. However, information on grants in 2006-07 show which areas have higher proportions of students receiving full and partial grants. The available data on grants at local authority level are given in the following table; this information is not available at constituency level. The family income threshold for full maintenance grant of £2,700 in 2006-07 was £17,500, with a partial grant available to students with a family income of up to £37,425. In 2008-09 the thresholds will be raised to £25,000 for a full grant and £60,005 for a partial grant. This very large increase in the thresholds mean that 2006-07 figures can not be used as an indication of 2008-09 full and partial grant proportions.

The main measure for tracking progress on increasing participation is currently the Higher Education Initial Participation Rate (HEIPR). This is the sum of the HE initial participation rates for individual ages between 17 and 30 inclusive. The latest available figure is 42.8 per cent. for 2005-06. The 2005-06 figure for the young 17-20 age group is 34.0 per cent. The HEIPR is not disaggregated below national level.

Distribution of maintenance grants1 in academic year 2006-07 English domiciled students studying in the UK: Local authority ordered by percentage receiving a full grant2

Students3

Percentage

Local authority

Full

Part

Nil

Total

Full

Part

Nil

Tower Hamlets

1,270

130

240

1,640

78

8

15

Newham

1,460

300

590

2,350

62

13

25

Manchester

1,690

420

660

2,770

61

15

24

Camden

700

140

350

1,180

59

12

29

Lambeth

1,130

320

490

1,940

59

16

25

Islington

720

160

360

1,240

58

13

29

Westminster

550

100

290

940

58

11

31

Barking and Dagenham

480

150

240

870

55

17

27

Kensington and Chelsea

390

70

260

710

54

10

36

Hammersmith and Fulham

480

120

340

940

51

12

36

Birmingham

3,160

1,300

1,900

6,360

50

20

30

Blackpool

400

210

200

800

50

26

24

Bradford

1,520

640

890

3,060

50

21

29

Leicester

1,140

580

570

2,290

50

25

25

Lewisham

990

370

610

1,980

50

19

31

Nottingham

670

280

390

1,340

50

21

29

Haringey

910

250

690

1,840

49

13

37

Greenwich

750

280

530

1,550

48

18

34

Waltham forest

900

340

620

1,860

48

19

33

Oldham

650

330

400

1,370

47

24

29

Torbay

330

180

200

710

47

25

28

Wandsworth

730

270

550

1,550

47

17

36

Kingston upon Hull

550

290

360

1,190

46

25

30

Liverpool

1,240

600

850

2,690

46

22

32

Luton

580

250

440

1,260

46

19

35

Derby

630

310

500

1,440

44

21

35

Brighton and Hove

600

310

500

1,410

43

22

36

Bristol

830

420

690

1,940

43

22

35

Ealing

1,110

490

990

2,580

43

19

38

Knowsley

350

220

250

820

43

26

31

Rochdale

550

280

440

1,260

43

22

34

Sandwell

590

400

370

1,360

43

29

27

Bournemouth

380

200

330

910

42

22

36

Sheffield

1,100

630

980

2,700

41

23

36

Wolverhampton

630

450

470

1,550

41

29

30

Bolton

720

390

680

1,790

40

22

38

Kirklees

1,010

590

910

2,510

40

23

36

Salford

390

210

380

970

40

21

39

Tameside

420

270

360

1,050

40

26

34

Enfield

890

450

930

2,280

39

20

41

North East Lincolnshire

340

230

290

860

39

27

34

Southampton

400

220

390

1,010

39

22

39

Cornwall

1,190

990

940

3,130

38

32

30

Middlesbrough

350

200

370

930

38

22

40

Newcastle upon Tyne

600

340

630

1,570

38

22

40

Plymouth

550

350

520

1,420

38

25

37

Walsall

480

330

450

1,260

38

26

35

Coventry

670

480

630

1,780

37

27

35

Halton

270

190

260

710

37

26

36

SFD processing unit4

5,450

2,840

6,350

14,640

37

19

43

Barnet

1,010

430

1,360

2,800

36

15

49

Calderdale

460

300

520

1,280

36

24

40

Croydon

880

530

1,040

2,450

36

22

42

Lancashire

3,110

2,110

3,420

8,650

36

24

40

Redbridge

890

460

1,100

2,450

36

19

45

Sunderland

570

420

580

1,570

36

27

37

Devon

1,360

1,040

1,500

3,910

35

27

38

Gateshead

350

290

350

990

35

30

35

Slough

270

180

330

780

35

23

42

Bury

410

310

510

1,230

34

25

41

Hounslow

530

320

720

1,570

34

20

46

Merton

430

250

600

1,280

34

20

47

Poole

230

170

270

670

34

25

41

Sefton

660

500

790

1,940

34

26

41

Harrow

750

470

1,030

2,260

33

21

46

Leeds

1,280

960

1,610

3,860

33

25

42

Trafford

560

360

770

1,680

33

21

46

Wirral

700

500

910

2,100

33

24

43

Barnsley

300

320

310

930

32

34

34

Bath and North East Somerset

300

230

410

940

32

24

44

North Lincolnshire

280

270

310

860

32

31

36

Reading

200

170

260

640

32

27

41

Doncaster

400

400

470

1,280

31

32

37

St Helens

320

330

380

1,020

31

32

37

Staffordshire

1,750

1,710

2,210

5,670

31

30

39

Derbyshire

1,090

1,020

1,560

3,670

30

28

42

Dudley

450

490

570

1,510

30

32

38

Durham

810

810

1,050

2,670

30

30

39

East Sussex

770

580

1,230

2,580

30

22

48

Isle of Wight

190

190

250

620

30

30

40

Milton Keynes

390

250

670

1,310

30

19

51

Rotherham

340

360

450

1,150

30

31

39

Wigan

500

500

650

1,650

30

31

39

Bexley

360

300

590

1,260

29

24

47

Cumbria

760

750

1,130

2,640

29

28

43

Lincolnshire

1,030

990

1,500

3,510

29

28

43

Medway

370

360

570

1,290

29

28

44

Norfolk

1,000

950

1,550

3,500

29

27

44

Stockport

540

430

910

1,870

29

23

49

Suffolk

1,000

920

1,580

3,500

29

26

45

Swindon

270

220

420

900

29

24

47

Thurrock

160

120

270

560

29

22

49

West Sussex

1,400

1,140

2,340

4,890

29

23

48

Hillingdon

470

320

870

1,660

28

19

52

Dorset

530

530

890

1,950

27

27

46

Gloucestershire

830

820

1,470

3,120

27

26

47

North Tyneside

320

290

570

1,170

27

25

48

Richmond upon Thames

320

200

680

1,200

27

17

57

Shropshire

670

700

1,070

2,450

27

29

44

Worcestershire

1,180

1,200

1,940

4,320

27

28

45

Cambridgeshire

980

950

1,800

3,720

26

25

48

East Riding of Yorkshire

540

570

970

2,080

26

28

47

Kent

1,980

1,760

3,780

7,520

26

23

50

Kingston upon Thames

280

230

550

1,070

26

22

52

North Somerset

270

250

530

1,050

26

24

51

Nottinghamshire

1,040

1,080

1,850

3,970

26

27

47

Wakefield

370

440

600

1,410

26

31

42

Havering

280

250

590

1,120

25

22

53

Northamptonshire

880

820

1,820

3,520

25

23

52

Somerset

690

780

1,250

2,720

25

29

46

Warrington

310

330

590

1,230

25

27

48

Bromley

460

330

1,120

1,910

24

17

59

Cheshire

950

1,000

2,260

4,210

23

24

54

Essex

1,440

1,440

3,350

6,230

23

23

54

Leicestershire

870

1,060

1,830

3,750

23

28

49

Northumberland

400

480

860

1,740

23

28

49

Oxfordshire

820

710

2,050

3,580

23

20

57

Sutton

260

240

630

1,130

23

21

55

Hertfordshire

1,410

1,360

3,640

6,410

22

21

57

Solihull

290

360

680

1,330

22

27

51

South Gloucestershire

270

300

640

1,200

22

25

53

Warwickshire

680

800

1,580

3,060

22

26

51

Wiltshire

530

590

1,230

2,350

22

25

53

Bedfordshire

480

490

1,300

2,270

21

21

57

Buckinghamshire

690

610

1,940

3,250

21

19

60

Hampshire

1,380

1,600

3,870

6,840

20

23

56

Windsor and Maidenhead

160

150

570

870

19

17

65

Bracknell Forest

100

110

350

560

18

20

62

Surrey

1,140

1,090

3,970

6,200

18

18

64

West Berkshire

130

160

570

860

16

18

66

Wokingham

160

200

710

1,070

15

18

67

England

97,900

67,820

126,580

292,290

33

23

43

1 The table covers the Maintenance Grant and Special Support Grant available to new students from 2006-07. 2 The table covers those who apply to the Student Loans Company for support. This includes awards to students who subsequently withdrew from their course or suspended study during the academic year. It excludes those who are not eligible for a grant because they are receiving an NHS bursary. 3 Student numbers are rounded to the nearest 10. 4 The Student Finance Direct processing unit covers applications from Brent, Darlington, Hackney, Hartlepool, North Yorkshire, Redcar and Cleveland, South Tyneside, Southend-on-Sea, Southward Stockton-on-Tees, and York. Source: Student Loans Company