Poorest students betrayed in bursary policy U-turn, says UCU

The union said the move let down the poorest students and set a worrying precedent. It added that the move made little sense in a week when the government appeared to be doing much soul searching over why social mobility in the country had stalled.
 
The union also slammed government attempts to spin the new minimum bursary as being worth as much as bursaries in 2006, that covered the full fee. When top-up fees were introduced it was made clear that universities and colleges would need to provide a bursary for the poorest students to make up any shortfall between the cost of fees and the state maintenance grant.*
 
In today's revised guidance to OFFA, the Higher Education Minister, David Lammy, has scrapped the obligation on universities to provide bursaries which make up the difference between the maintenance grant and the top fee limit. In 2010-11 the maximum fee will be £3,290, leaving a shortfall of £384 for the poorest students entitled to a maximum loan of £2,906. With a new minimum bursary of just £329, the students will need to find £55 of the shortfall themselves.
 
UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'I cannot understand why a government that is looking so hard at social mobility has taken the decision to charge the poorest students more money to attend university. I am particularly unimpressed that the government has tried to spin the new bursary as being equivalent to the original bursaries that covered the top-up fee when they were introduced in 2006.
 
'The simple fact is that in 2006 a government grant and a bursary from a university covered the full tuition fee for the poorest students. The new arrangements mean this is no longer the case and the very students that need the most help will find themselves out of pocket. This may not seem like much money to some people, but if the government is prepared to abandon safeguards to help the poorest students then this sets an incredibly worrying precedent.'

• *The letter from the Secretary of State for Education and Skills sent to OFFA in October 2004 stated: 'It is our policy that the poorest students should receive a total package of non-repayable support of at least £3,000 [the full top-up fee]... I would expect every access agreement, as a minimum requirement, to show how the institution will give financial support to students on full state support, to make up this difference.'
  OFFA final guidance letter, Oct 04
• Today's full announcement can be seen on the OFFA website