HC Deb 19 January 1995 vol 252 c645W
Mr. Denham

To ask the Secretary of State for Education what is the estimate of the total number of full-time students in higher education not living in their family or parental home in each of the last five years.

Mr. Boswell

Data on the numbers of full-time students in higher education not living in their parental or family home are not collected centrally. However, local education authorities in England and Wales provide data on the various rates of grant paid by them in mandatory awards made to students domiciled in their areas. Award holders living with their parents while attending their courses normally receive a parental home rate of grant. Students who live away from the parental home while studying normally receive a different rate, as do those who are treated for awards purposes as independent of their parents and who live in their own homes while attending their courses. The numbers of award holders not in receipt of the parental home rate in the academic years 1988–89 to 1992–93—the latest year for which data are available—are shown in the table.

Number of mandatory award holders not in receipt of the parental home rate of grant1
England and Wales 1988–89 to 1992–93
Academic year Number
1988–89 288,200
1989–90 302,500
1990–91 443,900
1991–92 496,700
1993–93 583,800
1 The table includes students who receive partial or nil maintenance grants because of high parental or other income.