To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many and what proportion of (a) full-time and (b) part-time students attending higher education institutions with children under the age of three receive a childcare grant. (250972)

The childcare grant is available for full-time, higher education students with dependent children in registered or approved childcare; it is not available to part-time students. In academic year 2007-08 there were 3,700 students with at least one child under three who were receiving childcare grant. While information is available on students who receive a childcare grant, information is not held centrally which identifies students with children under three who do not apply for a childcare grant. Therefore the proportion of students with children under three who receive a childcare grant is not known. Students receiving childcare grant make up around 1 per cent. of higher education students applying for some form of student finance support.