Government considers reintroducing university maintenance grants for poorest students

Maintenance grants for the poorest students at university could be reintroduced by the Government, according to a Whitehall source.

The grants, which were scrapped in 2016 by then-Chancellor George Osborne, aim to level the financial playing field for students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

The news, which was first reported by i, comes after a group of over 140 universities, including the University of Warwick, called upon the Government to increase university tuition fees to up to £13,000 a year last week.

The Government has not yet provided exact details on the value of the maintenance grants or set out who would be eligible to receive them

The Government has not yet provided exact details of the value of the maintenance grants or set out who would be eligible to receive them, though one source has said that “there is a live conversation between the Department for Education (DfE) and Treasury” about reinstating the grants.

At the time of their removal in 2016, maintenance grants were worth up to £3,500.

Currently, students in England can only receive maintenance loans, with the amount they are eligible for depending on factors including parental income and their home location.

Students from elsewhere in the UK are, however, already eligible to receive grants towards their living costs. The Welsh Government provides a grant of at least £1,000 to all Welsh students, regardless of their household income, rising to a maximum of £8,100 for students from the poorest backgrounds. Similarly, some Scottish students can receive living cost grants, if they are from lone parent families, for example.

Maintenance loans, unlike maintenance grants, are required to be repaid upon graduation, albeit only above certain income thresholds. As such, the current loan system often leaves less well-off students saddled with more debt than those from wealthier families.

Critics argued that by removing the funding, students who benefitted from the financial support may have been discouraged from choosing to attend university

Upon scrapping maintenance grants, Osborne justified his decision by claiming there was a “basic unfairness in asking taxpayers to fund grants for people who are likely to earn a lot more than them”.

However, critics argued that by removing the funding, students who benefitted from the financial support may have been discouraged from choosing to attend university at all.

Sorana Vieru, who was then Vice-President of the National Union of Students (NUS), said that the decision could have “put off students from underprivileged backgrounds from applying, who might not understand how the loan system works, or are very debt-averse”.

Tuition fees, which have remained frozen at £9,250 since 2017, provide a large proportion of universities’ funding. However, recent calls by universities for a hike in fees for home students could particularly impact those from poorer backgrounds.

If fees go up, we certainly need to do something on maintenance grants for less well-off students who already leave uni with the biggest debts

Nick Harrison, Sutton Trust Chief Executive

Universities UK, an advocacy organisation for universities, have acknowledged the added strain that an increase in tuition fees would put on students’ finances. While many universities offer bursaries and scholarships, these are often unable to cover whole cohorts of underprivileged students.

Nick Harrison, Chief Executive of the Sutton Trust, also commented: “If fees do go up, we certainly need to do something on maintenance grants for less well-off students who already leave uni with the biggest debts of around £60k vs. £45k for those from wealthier families.”

UCAS data shows that a record number of disadvantaged students secured a place at university or college this year, though the price tag of attending university continues to put off some students from applying for courses. If a fee increase is not matched by expanded support for poorer students, universities risk reversing hard-fought progress to attract students from less fortunate backgrounds.

The DfE did not respond to the i’s request for comment, though a later report in The Times reiterated the Government’s plans to reintroduce maintenance loans to combat a mooted ‘in line with inflation’ rise in tuition fees over the next five years.