§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what support is available to mature students on access courses to higher education; and what plans he has to alter the current arrangements. [39148]
§ Dr. HowellsAll mature students can apply to their LEAs for discretionary awards and to their colleges for financial support. Some students may receive additional help through fee remission and free child care.
658WThe current system of post-16 LEA discretionary awards fails many students. We have therefore introduced legislation to abolish them and have asked an advisory group chaired by Graham Lane to develop recommendations for fairer, more effective replacement arrangements. We plan to consult on the Group's recommendations in May.
Sir Geoffrey JohnsonSmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will provide comparative calculations of the expected debt on graduation of a student entering an undergraduate course in the autumn of 1999 under(a) the Government's proposals and (b) the Dearing Committee's proposals, assuming receipt of a full maintenance grant. [38737]
§ Dr. HowellsThe maximum amount that a student can borrow will depend on the length of the course and the place of study, as well as the student's and his or her parents' or spouse's income. Under the Government's proposals, a student completing a three year course outside London which began in 1999 and who took out the full loan available each year might expect to have borrowed a total of £10,165 in 1998 prices. The comparable figure under the Dearing Committee's proposals would be £8,083.
Repayments under our proposed system will be made only when a graduate's income exceeds £10,000 a year and the level of repayments will then be linked directly to the individual's income above that amount. A graduate with an income of £17,000 per annum, for example, would make weekly repayments of about £12 a week.
Students and their families will be expected to contribute no more up front to the costs of their higher education under our proposals than they would under the current arrangements. Our proposals will ensure that students have access to the funds which they need while they are studying while generating substantial additional resources for investment in higher and further education.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the cost of exempting all students who have been accepted to Scottish universities from England, Wales and Northern Ireland for the fourth year of their tuition fees. [39200]
§ Dr. HowellsWe estimate that the cost of exempting students from England from contributing towards the fourth year of their tuition fees for first degree courses at Scottish universities would be some £1.5 million per annum.
The cost of exempting students from Wales and Northern Ireland is for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Wales and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland respectively.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will change the regulations which require that a person under the age of 25 be married at least two years before he or she can be deemed independent of his or her parents for grant or loan related purposes. [39018]
§ Dr. HowellsWe have no plans to change this regulation for the academic year 1998/99. But we will be reviewing the means-testing arrangements for 1999/2000.
659W
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to allow mature students attending higher education institutions on undergraduate courses to access(a) grants and (b) loans in 1998 and 1999. [39023]
§ Dr. HowellsStudents entering full-time undergraduate courses in 1998/99 will have access to maintenance grants for one year only at a reduced rate, regardless of their age. Increased loans will also be available to students aged under 50 at the start of their courses.
While we have no plans to extend the eligibility for loans to those aged 50 and over for 1998/99, we intend to review the eligibility requirements for 1999/2000 and subsequent years when grants will no longer be available. The recent consultation paper on lifelong learning, "The Learning Age," invited views on extending loans to those in their early 50s who wish to enter higher education, for example, to retrain following redundancy. Final decisions will be taken in the light of the responses to that consultation.
Under the new arrangements all students, irrespective of their age, will be eligible to receive means-related help towards their contribution to tuition costs.
§ Mr. WillisTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to allow mature students attending higher education courses who are in receipt of income support to retain their full benefit entitlement and access the full income contingent loan. [39024]
§ Dr. HowellsThe Government have no plans to change the way student loans are treated in assessing eligibility for benefits. The student loan is a normal means of funding students and although repayable, it is still real income intended to support students in higher education. It would be wrong to treat students who do have access to benefits more favourably than others by ignoring the availability of this source of income. Mature students aged 50 or over at the start of their course are currently ineligible for loans and therefore no account is taken of this form of income when assessing their entitlement to benefit.