§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Science what would be the estimated cost of abolishing means-tested grants and the paying of full grant to all students in full-time advanced education.
Mr. JacksonThe cost of abolishing means-testing under the existing mandatory awards system would be approximately £400 million in the current academic year. The cost of extending non-means tested maintenance grant to all full-time higher education students, other than postgraduates, would be of the order of a further £60 to 90 million per annum.