Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that students from lower-income backgrounds are able to afford to attend university.

To improve affordability for disadvantaged students, we will future proof our maintenance loan offer by increasing maintenance loans in line with forecast inflation every academic year. Maintenance loans will increase by 2.71% in the 2026/27 academic year, in line with forecast inflation, following a 3.1% increase in 2025/26. Additionally, care leavers, some the most vulnerable in our society, will also be automatically eligible for the maximum maintenance loan.

We are reintroducing maintenance grants from the 2028/29 academic year. These grants will support students from low-income households studying full-time courses aligned with the government’s missions and Industrial Strategy, funded by a levy on providers for international students.

The government remains committed to providing additional grant support for students with adult and child dependants and those with disabilities. Full-time students with adult or child dependants can apply for fully means-tested dependants’ grants and students with disabilities can apply for non-means tested disabled students’ allowance.