Philip Davies – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Education

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Philip Davies on 2016-07-21.

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional financial assistance is available to students whose maintenance loans do not fully cover the costs of accommodation; and what estimate she has made of the proportion of students who are so affected.

Joseph Johnson

The Government’s policy is that maintenance support is provided to cover a range of student expenditure, and is only a contribution to students’ costs. Maintenance support is linked to parental income, to ensure that students from lower income backgrounds receive the highest rates of loan, and for new students beginning study this academic year, maintenance support has increased by up to 10.3% on the previous year.

In addition to their maintenance support, students may be eligible for financial assistance from their university. In 2016/17, £745 million is expected to be spent by universities on measures to support the access and success of students from disadvantaged backgrounds, including through bursaries and fee waivers. Such assistance is over and above the other sources of income students may have such as their families or from paid work.