Maintenance grants to return for some students

Maintenance grants will return for some university students in England by 2029, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has said.

The grants will apply to "tens of thousands" of students from lower-income households, targeted at those "studying priority courses that support the industrial strategy and the Labour government's wider mission to renew Britain".

It is not yet clear which courses would be eligible for a grant, with the government saying more details would be provided in November's autumn Budget.

Maintenance grants were abolished 10 years ago by the former chancellor George Osborne, who said they had become an "unaffordable" cost to the taxpayer.

At the time, students from families with annual incomes of £25,000 or less could get a full grant of £3,387 a year.

More than half a million students in England were receiving a grant before they were removed, at a cost of £1.57bn a year.

The government has said the grants will be funded by a new levy on international student fees, which will only apply to institutions in England.

Speaking at the Labour Party conference in Liverpool on Monday afternoon, Phillipson said the government was putting universities "back in the service of working-class young people".

"Conference, their time at college or university should be spent learning or training, not working every hour God sends," she said.

The government said the maintenance grants would be available to students doing university degrees, other higher education courses, and technical qualifications.

The government has not yet said how much money eligible students will be able to receive in the grant, but - like maintenance loans, which students in England can still receive - the amount will be means-tested, meaning it depends how much a student's family earns.

It comes as a growing number of students are having to take on part-time work to fund their time at university, as the gap continues to increase between the rising cost of living and the money available from maintenance loans.

Recent research from the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) suggests students in England need £61,000 over a three-year degree "to have a minimum socially acceptable standard of living".

The think tank found the maximum annual maintenance loan covers "just half the costs faced by freshers".

And a recent Save the Student survey suggested that, on average, maintenance loans have been falling £502-a-month short of living costs.

Tom Allingham, student money expert at Save the Student, welcomed the announcement, but said the government should "think bigger" by making all students eligible, rather than just those on "priority courses".

"Simply replacing a chunk of the loan with a grant will make no difference to the intense financial struggles students face, and the number one thing they need right now is more money in their pockets," he said.

"We eagerly await more details on the new funding, and hope the government will listen to the needs of students when fine-tuning their plans."

The maximum maintenance loan students from England can receive if they are living away from their parents, outside of London, is £10,544.

Students from Wales studying away from home can borrow up to £11,345, and some Welsh students are already entitled to maintenance grants.

In Scotland, the maximum annual maintenance loan is £9,400 for under-25s, and there is a number of bursaries and grants students there can apply for too.