UK Students Can Get Up to £8,100 In Financial Support and This Is How

It has just been announced that maintenance grants are to be restored in the “Russell Group” UK universities to “improve diversity in higher education.” The Typical Student team learned the eligibility requirements for getting the grants.

What Are Maintenance Grants?

As told by the BBC News, maintenance grants could make a great difference in helping students cope with loan debt insecurities. Also, these grants would encourage more students to apply for enrolment. The UK Government is working towards getting more students from low-income families into universities.

Before September 2016, maintenance grants were allocated to disadvantaged students in England (mainly, to families with annual incomes of £25,000 or less). They would get the full grant of £3,387 annually. In September 2016, the grants were scrapped due to reportedly becoming "unaffordable."

Back then, the cabinet ministers insisted there was a "basic unfairness in asking taxpayers to fund grants for people who are likely to earn a lot more than them". No wonder, the step was immensely criticized. It deprived the students of low and middle-income families of a possibility of enrollment.

To apply for financial support provided by the UK government, check GOV.UK.

How Are Maintenance Grants Allocated In Wales?

As told by BBC News, the ‘new system of maintenance grants is being introduced” in starting September 2018. At that, all eligible Welsh students are to get “a £1,000 maintenance grant” irrespective of where they study in the UK. As for the poorest students, they may get up to £8,100 (or over, if a student is educated in London)!

Helping to Pay Your Student Loans Off

As of recent the so-called “Russell Group” universities (24 prestigious "research-intensive" universities including Oxbridge) have received criticism for failing to enrol students from ethnic minorities and underprivileged backgrounds. As a result, the maintenance grants proposal initiated by the “Russell group” universities is to be submitted to the government.

The proposal will include the following:

• A "living wage" for students who had been “eligible for school meals during their school years.”
• £8,192 grant to reduce the debt of a student by £27,800.

As told by Tim Bradshaw, the leader of the “Russell Group,” the financial support “could be very targeted, really cost-effective and actually make quite a substantial difference to those from disadvantaged backgrounds who may inherently be very nervous about taking on an additional loan."