Grants cut for 100,000 students

UP TO 100,000 students will pay more for university after ministers slashed grants for middle-class families just weeks after they were introduced.

The move is a U-turn on one of Gordon Brown's biggest policy announcements made in his first days as Prime Minister.

Universities Secretary John Denham confirmed the Government had underestimated how many undergraduates would be eligible.

In July last year, he told the Commons that students with a family income of up to £60,000 would be entitled to some level of non-repayable maintenance grant. Today he revised the threshold to £50,000, hitting around one in 10 students across England.

The cuts will come into force from next year, leaving students with lower grants and higher tuition fees. Existing students will not be affected.

The funding crisis arose after it turned out that 40 per cent of students would be eligible for the full grant of £2,700 under the new system the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills had estimated one third with a third receiving partial grants.

Two thirds would still receive some level of grant. Another £100 million is needed to pay for the arrangements.

Mr Denham told MPs that the family income threshold for students to receive a full grant would remain at £25,000 per year, meaning the poorest will still get help. "Finance should not present a barrier to students wishing to study at university," he added.

The Government has promised to review tuition fees next year and is under pressure from leading universities to lift the current £3,000 cap.