Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of student maintenance grants in meeting students' living costs.

The previous government removed maintenance grants, and the real-terms value of loan support for students has reduced by more than 20% over the last five years. It is essential that our government improves this.

That is why we will reintroduce targeted means-tested maintenance grants before the end of this Parliament, funded by a levy on international student fees. The grants will support students from low-income households studying courses aligned with our missions and the Industrial Strategy, and we will set out further detail at the Autumn Budget.

Additionally, the government will increase maintenance loans in line with forecast inflation every academic year. This will provide students with long-term financial certainty on the financial support they will receive while studying and ensure that students from the lowest income families receive the largest year-on-year cash increases in support.