- 08/10/2012
- Posted by: Mike Hedges MS
- Category: Latest News
No full time undergraduate student ordinarily resident in Wales will pay higher fees in real terms during the lifetime of the next Assembly than if they had been students in 2010/11, Education Minister Leighton Andrews has reaffirmed.
Latest forecasts suggest that the Welsh Government will provide the following funding to support students for until the end of the financial year 2016-17:
• Over £1bn for the Tuition Fee Grant;
• Over £750m for Maintenance Grants;
• Around £1.8bn for tuition fee and maintenance loans.
These policies are fully costed and sustainable for the life of this Assembly. The Welsh Government recently announced the student finance package for higher education students entering university in the academic year 2013/14. The Welsh Government’s commitment to supporting Welsh students remains unequivocal.
From September 2013:
• The maximum tuition fee that institutions in Wales will be able to charge in the academic years 2013/14, 2014/15 and 2015/16 will be frozen at £9,000 (subject to an approved fee plan being in place);
• The maximum tuition fee loan for students ordinarily resident in Wales will increase by the rate of inflation in each academic year. For 2013/14 this will mean that the maximum loan will be £3,575;
• Students will continue to be eligible for the non means tested tuition fee grant to cover the remaining element of the tuition fee.
Students starting their studies on or after the 1st September 2013 will be eligible for:
• A maximum maintenance grant of £5,161;
• A maximum maintenance loan of £5,150 (depending on household income) or £7,215 if they study in London;
• A partial cancellation of up to £1,500 of their maintenance loans when they start repayment.
