Labour’s Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has revealed plans to reintroduce means-tested grants for the most financially challenged university students. Phillipson emphasized the importance of ensuring that universities are accessible to all, not just the affluent, aiming to implement these measures before the end of the current Parliament.
The grants, previously available to students with household incomes below £25,000, were eliminated by the Conservative government in 2016 and replaced with loans by former Chancellor George Osborne. Speaking at the Labour party’s annual conference, Phillipson criticized the Conservatives for politicizing universities and pledged to prioritize working-class youth in higher education.
Under the new scheme, Labour will introduce targeted maintenance grants for students pursuing key courses at levels four to six, including higher national diploma qualifications and undergraduate degrees. The funding for these grants will be sourced from a levy on international students attending English higher education institutions, with further details expected in the upcoming Budget.
Responding to the announcement, the University College Union (UCU) General Secretary, Jo Grady, expressed concerns about using international student fees to finance maintenance grants, urging for increased public investment in education instead. Conversely, Dani Payne from the Social Market Foundation welcomed the initiative, highlighting the importance of supporting economically disadvantaged students to promote social mobility.
