§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what are the criteria by which his Department calculates the extra weeks' allowance element of the student grant.
§ Mr. BrookeThe criterion for calculating the allowance for extra weeks of study is that it should cover those items of expenditure which a student could reasonably be expected to incur as a result of his additional study, including board and lodging and travel.
§ Mr. Freudasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the financial disparity for a medical student during the clinical period of his training between th weekly grant-income, assuming a full grant, and the amount received as the extra weeks' aallowance; and what would be the estimated cost to his Department, expressed as a percentage of the total cost of student grants and as a monetary total, of increasing the extra weeks' allowance to the level of the weekly grant-income.
§ Mr. BrookeIn 1984–85 for those students living away from home and studying outside London the weekly grant income, assuming a full grant, exceeds the extra weeks'662W allowance by £14.50. At present grant rates, to increase the extra weeks' allowance for all students to the level of the weekly grant income is estimated to cost about £11 million per annum; this represents approximately 2.3 per cent. of the total estimated cost of undergraduate student maintenance in the current academic year. The cost of increasing the extra weeks' allowance for clinical medical students cannot be separately identified.