§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if he will show (a) the number of students in receipt of the older students' allowance and the average individual payment made in the past three years, (b) the total cost of the allowance in each year, (c) the average amount of student grant, other than the allowance, received by students covered by the allowance in each of these years and (d) estimates of these statistics for the current academic year.
§ Mr. WaldenIn answer to parts(a) and (b) of the question, the latest available information is as follows:
Year Students receiving older students' allowance Average payment £ Total cost £ 1983–84 12,430 510 6,354,000 1984–85 11,927 530 6,317,000 The information sought under parts (c) and (d) of the question is not available.
§ Mr. Andrew F. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what estimate he has made of the effects of the change in the eligibility conditions for the older students allowance on the total number of awards given, and as to how this will be split between those (a) losing and (b) gaining eligibility compared with the previous regulations.
§ Mr. WaldenNo students who were receiving the allowance under the arrangements operating before 1 September 1986 will lose their entitlement. Information about the number of students entering higher education on or after that date who would have qualified for the older students allowance under the previous criteria but who are not now eligible, or who now qualify for the allowance but would not have done so previously, is not available. The number of students entering higher education and receiving mandatory awards depends on a number of factors. Any attempt to estimate the future effect on that number of the change in the conditions of eligibility for the older students' allowance, or of the increased rates of allowance, would be purely speculative.