UCU comment on proposals to cut maintenance grants

The union was responding to reports by Times Higher Education and BBC Newsnight that the government is considering cutting maintenance grants in a bid to find further savings at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. It said that the proposed change could push up the cost of student borrowing overall, and highlighted the need for wholescale system reform.

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'Our members want to teach the best and brightest students from all walks of life. Maintenance grants are a crucial incentive for students from disadvantaged backgrounds who are already daunted by the prospect of cripplingly high tuition fee debt.

'Replacing these grants with loans will increase student and national debt and cost everyone more in the long run. That this change is being considered highlights the need for urgent reform of the student finance system- without it, student debt levels will only continue to rise.'