Written question asked by Lord Grayling (Conservative) on Thursday, 29 January 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 9 February 2004. It was answered by Alan Johnson (Labour) on Monday, 9 February 2004 on behalf of the Department for Education and Skills.

Dept for Education and Skills

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, what financial support he plans to make available from his Department to mature students in higher education institutions. - Inc figures.

Answer: Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what financial support he plans to make available from his Department to mature students in higher education institutions. [152736] Alan Johnson: Our proposals for 2006/07 are designed to help higher education students generally but one in particular will be of especial help to mature students. We expect a third of all those getting the grant of £2,700 to be independent students although they are a much smaller percentage of all students. Mature students will also benefit from the increases in the levels of student loans, the raising of the repayment threshold from £10,000 to £15,000 and the 25-year cap on the repayment period. Existing targeted support already helps certain mature students who are eligible for a range of additional grants such as the child care grant and parent's learning allowance, for student parents, the disabled students allowance and the adult dependants grant dependants grant. In addition, student parents are eligible to receive child tax credit from the Inland Revenue.

Secondary information