28% of students to qualify for grants

28% of students to qualify for grants

Less than one-third of university students will qualify for a full maintenance grant when tuition fees are introduced next year, the government said last night.

Ministers said they expected around 55% of applicants to get some financial help, with 28% likely to get the full £2,700.

The government is due to introduce fees of up to £3,000 a year for university courses from September next year.

Bill Rammell, the higher education minister, said he was determined that everyone with the ability should have the opportunity to go to university, irrespective of wealth.

"There is insufficient awareness that student grants are coming back," Mr Rammell said. "The details that I am announcing today mean that there has never been a better time for students from poorer backgrounds to enter higher education."

Students coming from households where the annual income is £17,500 or less will receive a full grant of £2,700 and those from households with an annual income of between £17,501 and £37,425 will receive a partial grant.

Mr Rammell also announced a rise in the amount of support available through student loans, with increases of between 2.8% and 19.2%.

The government aims to get 50% of young people into higher education by 2010 - the current figure is 43%.

Earlier this week the Higher Education Policy Institute cast doubt on the target, saying the proportion of 18- to 30-year-olds at university.....continued below

Advertisement starts

---

---

Advertisement ends

would remain far short of 50% in 2010 - due in part to the introduction of fees. Last night the National Union of Students said fees would increase the financial pressure on students.

Julian Nicholds of the NUS said the government's claim that more than half of students would be eligible for a maintenance grant was misleading. "In actual fact less than third will be eligible for the full amount so we are yet to see the impact and subsequent difficulties for those who will only receive some support."

Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2005