Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Wednesday, 14 March 2012, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 21 March 2012. It was answered by Lord Willetts (Conservative) on Thursday, 19 April 2012 on behalf of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

Students: Fees and Charges

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills if his Department will bring forward proposals to introduce means-tested support for course costs additional to tuition fees available across all university departments.

Answer: [holding answer 21 March 2012]: There are no plans to introduce specific means-tested support for course costs.Students are able to apply for maintenance grants and maintenance loans. These are intended as a contribution towards the living and course costs incurred while in higher education.Increased maximum amounts of maintenance grant and maintenance loan will be available to new students starting full-time courses from September 2012 onwards.Students from households with incomes up to £42,600 will receive a non-repayable maintenance grant, with the maximum grant of £3,250 available to those with household incomes up to £25,000.All students, regardless of household income, will be entitled to a maintenance loan of at least £3,575. Those on certain household incomes will be entitled to a larger loan of up to £5,500. Loans of up to £7,675 are available to those studying in London to reflect the higher cost of studying there, and loans of up to £4,375 are available to those living at the parental home.An additional means-tested grant is available to students taking courses in medicine and dentistry, towards travel costs incurred in order to attend a clinical placement as part of the course.

Secondary information