HC Deb 25 February 2003 vol 400 cc466-7W
Mr. Edwards

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills at what level maintenance grants will be introduced for university students from households where the income is between £10,000 and £20,000; and what criteria will be used to assess eligibility. [98447]

Mr. Charles Clarke

The level of grant available for students from households with income between –10,000 and 20,000 will depend on the threshold below which the full grant will be paid. I refer my hon. Friend to my reply to the hon. Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Mrs. Lynne Jones) on 6 February 2003,Official Report, column 359W. Precise details on the eligibility criteria will be announced in due course.

Lynne Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what percentage of medical students are from families whose family income is(a) less than £10,000, (b) £10,000 to £15,000, (c) £15,001 to £20,000 and (d) over £20,001, using the definition of income that he proposes to use in assessing eligibility for a maintenance grant. [98316]

Margaret Hodge

My Department collects data from Local Education Authorities on the assessed contributions by students to fees, grants and loans for all students eligible to apply for student support. This includes medical students. The latest data are for 2000/ 1 and relates to the definition of residual income1 that applied in that year. It is not possible to estimate the income1 distribution of medical students (adjusted to account for changes in definition proposed for the new maintenance grant) separately from this survey because separate data by course subject are not collected.

In respect of estimates of residual incomes under the proposed definition for maintenance grant for all students, I refer to my reply to the hon. Friend's previous question. 1Residual Income is gross income less the allowances detailed in my Department's guidance, "Financial Support for Higher Education Students".