Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what assessment he has made of the effect of replacing maintenance grants on the ability of the Government to reach its target of doubling the proportion of people from disadvantaged backgrounds entering higher education between 2009 and 2020.

An Equality Analysis of changes to the living costs support package for full-time students in 2016/17 was published on the GOV.UK website on 3^rd December 2015. Ministers considered the evidence in the analysis to assess the impact on particular groups and to inform their decisions on changes to the student support system.