Student Awards (Hansard, 28 February 1991)

§ Mr. Alan Howarth

Subject to parliamentary approval of the necessary regulations, the existing parental contribution scales for mandatory awards for students from England and Wales will be adjusted for academic year 1991–92 in line with movements in average earnings. The effect will be that, for a parent whose residual income rises by 10 per cent. between financial years 1989–90 and 1990–91, the assessed contribution in 1991–92 will generally be the same in cash as in 1990–91. This fulfils the Government's commitment to begin reducing the real cost of the parental contribution. Similar adjustments will be made to the spouse's contribution scale and to the scales used for equivalent awards elsewhere in the United Kingdom. As previously announced, the basic maintenance award rates in 1991–92 will be held at their 1990–91 levels. The following are the new parental contribution scales:

Rental contribution scales for 1991–92
Residual income	Scale 1 contribution	Scale 2 contribution
12,650	60	45
13,000	105	79
14,000	235	176
15,000	365	274
16,000	495	371
16,170	517	388
17,000	667	501
18,000	849	638
19,000	1,031	775
20,000	1,213	912
21,000	1,395	1,049
22,000	1,577	1,186
23,000	1,758	1,323
23,760	1,897	1,423
24,000	1,951	1,464
25,000	2,178	1,634
26,000	2,406	1,805
27,000	2,633	1,976
28,000	2,860	2,147
29,000	3,087	2,318
30,000	3,315	2,489
31,000	3,542	2,660
32,000	3,769	2,831
33,000	3,997	3,020
34,000	4,224	3,173
35,000	4,451	3,344
36,000	4,678	3,515
37,000	4,906	3,686
38,000	5,113	3,857
39,000	5,360	4,028
40,000	5,587	4,199
40,935	5,800	4,358
41,000	—	4,370
42,000	—	4,540
43,000	—	4,711
44,000	—	4,882
45,000	—	5,053
46,000	—	5,224
47,000	—	5,395

553W

Residual income	Scale 1 contribution	Scale 2 contribution
48,000	—	5,566
49,000	—	5,737
49,366	—	5,800

Notes:

Scale 2 was introduced following the announcement on 15 March 1988 that tax relief on new non-charitable covenants would cease. Contributions on this scale are 25 per cent. less than those on scale 1 for the same residual income. Scale 1 applies to parents whose student children began their courses before the 1988–89 academic year and scale 2 applies to students who first entered higher education in 1988–89 or later. Well over 90 per cent. of assessments in 1991–92 will be at the scale 2 rates.

For 1991–92, the level of contribution will be assessed as follows:

For 1991–92, the level of contribution will be assessed as follows:
Residual income	Scale 1	Scale 2
From £12,650 to £16,169	£1 in £7.70	£1 in £10.25
From £16,170 to £23,759	£1 in £5.50	£1 in £7.30
From £23,760	£1 in £4.40	£1 in £5.85

The maximum contribution remains unchanged at £5,800 for both scales. The minimum contributions for both scales are also unchanged at £60 and £45 respectively.