David Willetts

Commenting on the Government’s decision to reduce the bursary entitlement of the poorest students, David Willetts MP, the Shadow Secretary of State for Universities and Skills said:

‘When he became Prime Minister, Gordon Brown announced more financial support for students.

‘But, ever since, he has been cutting back on his own package. It is the story of the Brown premiership - warm words followed by broken promises. Some of poorest students will lose out.

‘In the same week that Alan Milburn is talking about social mobility, the Government are making it harder for people with high aspirations but low-incomes to reach university.’

Notes to Editors

1. The student support regime introduced in 2006 included top-up fees (originally £3,000) and maintenance grants (£2,700). There was an explicit link between the two because all universities charging full fees had to provide bursaries at least big enough to bridge the gap between the maximum grant and the fees - originally £300.

2. As fees and grants have increased in line with inflation, the bursary has increased in a commensurate way. So, in 2009/10 the fees will be £3,225 and the grant will be £2,906, with the minimum bursary set at £319.

3. David Lammy has now announced that, from 2010/11, the firm link between fees and grants will be broken. Fees will rise to £3,290 but grants will remain fixed at £2,906 and the minimum bursary (set by OFFA) will rise by only £10 to £329. Under the old rules, the minimum bursary would have been £384.

4. This is the fourth recent cut in the financial support on offer to students from modest and low-income households. The other three are:
• the thresholds for maintenance grants are being reduced for students starting university in 2009/10;
• the guarantee to give full financial support to students previously in receipt of the Educational Maintenance Allowance is being abandoned; and
• the five-year repayment holiday for people with student loans is being reduced to just two-years.