Minister for Apprenticeships and Skills (): I am announcing details of
student fees and support arrangements for higher-education
students undertaking a course of study in the 2024/25 academic
year starting on 1 August 2024 together with further help to
address cost-of-living pressures in 2023/24. Also, I am
confirming that eligibility for student finance is being extended
to children granted indefinite leave to remain (ILR) where their
parent has been granted ILR as a victim of domestic abuse or as a
bereaved partner.
The Government recognises the additional cost-of-living pressures
that have arisen this year and that are impacting students. We
have already made £276 million of student premium and mental
health funding available for the 2023/24 academic year to support
successful outcomes for students including disadvantaged
students.
We are now making a further £10 million of one-off support
available to support student mental health and hardship funding.
This funding will complement the help universities are providing
through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support
schemes.
In addition, we are investing hundreds of millions of pounds
additional funding over the three year period from 2022-23 to
2024-25 to support high quality teaching and facilities including
in science and engineering, subjects that support the NHS, and
degree apprenticeships. This includes the largest increase in
government funding for the HE sector to support students and
teaching in over a decade.
I can confirm today that maximum tuition fees for undergraduate
students for the 2024/25 academic year in England will be
maintained at the levels that apply in the 2023/24 academic year,
the seventh year in succession that fees have been frozen. This
means that the maximum level of tuition fees for a standard
full-time course will remain at £9,250 for the 2024/25 academic
year to deliver better value for students and to keep the cost of
higher education down.
Thanks to the progress we have made on the Prime Minister’s five
priorities, inflation has more than halved. Maximum undergraduate
loans for living costs will be increased by forecast inflation,
2.5%, in 2024/25. And the same increase will apply to the maximum
disabled students’ allowance for students with disabilities
undertaking full-time and part-time undergraduate courses in
2024/25. Maximum grants for students with child or adult
dependants who are attending full-time undergraduate courses will
also increase by 2.5% in 2024/25.
We are also increasing support for students undertaking
postgraduate courses in 2024/25. Maximum loans for students
starting master’s degree and doctoral degree courses from 1
August 2024 onwards will be increased by 2.5% in 2024/25. And the
same increase will apply to the maximum disabled students’
allowance for postgraduate students with disabilities in 2024/25.
The 2.5% increase follows standard procedure to base annual
increases in support on forecasted inflation. We have continued
to increase maximum loans and grants for living costs each year
with the most support for students from the lowest income
families. Decisions on student finance have had to be taken to
ensure the system remains financially sustainable and the costs
of higher education are shared fairly between students and
taxpayers, not all of whom have benefited from going to
university.
I am also announcing today a number of other changes to
eligibility rules for student support and home-fee status that
will benefit certain vulnerable groups of students.
Students who have been granted indefinite leave to enter (ILE) as
a victim of domestic abuse and their children who are granted ILE
will also qualify for student support and home fee status.
I am also confirming today that home fee status and tuition fee
support is being extended to British citizens born in the Chagos
Islands, and their direct descendants who are also British
citizens.
In addition, students gaining settled status part-way through
their course will qualify for student support and home-fee status
for the remainder of their course.
Looking forward to the 2025/26 academic year, the new Lifelong
Learning Entitlement (LLE) will create a single funding system to
help students pay for college or university courses, and train,
retrain and upskill flexibly over their working lives. In tandem,
the Government will continue to recognise the importance of loans
for living costs and targeted grants to support access and
participation in higher education.
That is why, under the LLE, the Government will extend the scope
of loans for living costs, and grants for students with adult and
child dependants, making this support available for all
designated full-time and part-time courses and modules that
require in-person attendance. This will ensure that people will
be able to develop new skills and gain new qualifications at a
time that is right for them.
Further details of the student support package for 2024/25 are
set out in the attached document.
I am laying regulations implementing changes to student finance
support for undergraduates and postgraduates for 2024/25 today.
These regulations will be subject to Parliamentary procedure.
