§ Mr. MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what estimate he has made of the total cost of university grants, bursaries and maintenance awards paid to undergraduates in the last available year; and what proportion of that total was paid to undergraduates from households with net incomes of(a) £15,000 or less and (b) £15,000 to £25,000 annually. [11578]
§ Dr. HowellsExpenditure on mandatory awards made to students by local education authorities in England and Wales in the academic year 1995–96 was £2,059 million, of which £1,075 million was for maintenance grants. For most students, the grant is means tested primarily on the taxable income of his or her parents and not on the net income of the household. It is not possible to relate the total expenditure on grants to particular levels of parental income. However, in 1995–96, the parents of some 198,000–33 per cent.—dependent students were assessed to make a nil contribution to grant because their income was £15,510 or below. The parents of a further 149,000–25 per cent.—dependent students were assessed to make a contribution of between £45 and £1,000 because their income was between £15,510 and approximately £25,300.
Information on expenditure on bursaries and awards made by other bodies is not collected centrally.