Welsh Tuition Fee Grants To Be Axed

Wed, 26 Nov 2008

A flat-rate tuition fee discount for all university students in Wales will be scrapped and replaced with means-tested grants under proposals unveiled yesterday.

Under the existing fee regime, Welsh students are exempt from top-up tuition fees and receive a non-means-tested grant of £1,890 if they choose to study at a Welsh university .

But the Welsh Assembly Government is now looking to phase out these tuition payments and replace them with learning grants that will be "much more generous" for students from lower-income families. The Assembly added that grants would still be available on a means-tested basis for those from middle income households.

The move follows recommendations made in an Assembly Government-commissioned report led by Bangor University Vice Chancellor Professor Merfyn Jones, which said the current funding system should to be replaced by one giving more money to those who need it most.

Help for low-income students could rise by more than 10 per cent to just under £11,000, the report suggested.

Critics have complained that the current system is not fair on students who want to leave Wales to study, while EU rules mean the grant is available to non-UK students from the EU studying in Wales, but not those from the rest of the UK.

Speaking in the Senedd chamber, Education Minister Jane Hutt said the changes, which will soon go out for consultation, would be brought in at the start of the 2010/11 academic year. The grants of students already at university will not be affected.

She explained that instead of help with fees, more generous learning grants and better access to student loans would increase the maximum help on offer to students .

"I believe it is right that we concentrate our help on those who need it the most and do everything we can to widen access to participation in higher education," the minister commented.

Some of the money released by a new student finance system will be re-invested in higher education in an attempt to close a £61 million funding gap between universities in Wales and England.

"In a period where new resources for any of our public services are going to be very hard won, I believe that this will help further to secure Welsh higher education over the years ahead as lead institutions in a UK and international context," Ms Hutt added.
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