Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what is the cost of (1) full, and (2) partial, maintenance grants for full-time undergraduate students in higher education in England studying at (a) universities, and (b) further education colleges.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) publishes statistics according to the domicile of applicants rather than the country of study. Information on English domiciled applicants awarded Maintenance Grants for study at UK providers is published annually by SLC in the Statistical First Release ‘Student Support for Higher Education England’.

http://www.slc.co.uk/media/855703/slcsfr052014.pdf

The amount awarded in Maintenance Grants to English domiciled applicants at publicly-funded providers in the UK by type of provider in the academic year 2013/14 has been provided in the table.

Maintenance Grants ⁽¹⁾ awarded ⁽²⁾ to English applicants by provider type ⁽³⁾

Publicly-funded providers of Higher Education ⁽⁴⁾

Academic year 2013/14

Source: Student Loans Company

Notes:

(1) Figures include Special Support Grants, which are payable in place of Maintenance Grants to vulnerable students who may otherwise have their DWP benefits reduced.

(2) Awards do not necessarily translate into payments. An awarded applicant will only receive payments once SLC have received confirmation from the student’s provider that the student has been registered on the course.

(3) Provider name is the name of the parent institution to the main institution associated with a course as recorded in the SLC administrative system. A course may be held at a campus of the main institution or at a franchise location.

(4) In addition to the £1,458.9 million awarded in Maintenance Grants to applicants at publicly-funded providers, there was also £133.3 million awarded to applicants at Alternative Providers in 2013/14, however a breakdown of these awards by provider type is not readily available.