Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that students from low-income households are encouraged to consider university education.

The department is committed to addressing the persistent disadvantage gap in access to higher education (HE) and we are encouraged by the fact that disadvantaged young people continue to choose this pathway.

We are introducing targeted, means-tested maintenance grants of up to £1,000 per year from the 2028/29 academic year. These will be paid on top of existing loan amounts, increasing the cash in students’ pockets without increasing their debt.

Repayments are based on income, not loan amount or interest. Borrowers earning below the earnings threshold make no repayments. Any outstanding loan, including interest, is cancelled at the end of the term, with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed to family members or descendants.

HE providers intending to charge higher level tuition fees must have an Office for Students approved access and participation plan articulating how they will improve equality of opportunity for underrepresented groups, including students from low-income backgrounds.

We have gone further and asked Professor Kathryn Mitchell to lead an HE Access and Participation Task and Finish Group to consider how to tackle systemic barriers across the journey into HE for disadvantaged students.