UK to means-test university maintenance grants 'for those who need them most', Education Secretary vows
The measure could support tens of thousands of students studying priority courses, Labour claims
The Education Secretary has vowed to means-test maintenance grants for university students “who need them most” in a bid to upskill Britain.
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Bridget Phillipson pledged to introduce the measure by the end of this Parliament in a speech at the Labour Party conference.
The new measure is aimed at supporting students from the lowest income households so they can excel in higher education.
The party claims the policy will help to support tens of thousands of students studying priority courses and bolster the government’s wider mission to “renew” Britain.
Ms Phillipson said: “The Tories treated our universities as a political battleground, not a public good. Labour is putting them back in the service of working-class young people.
“Last year, I took the decisive steps we needed on university finances, so opportunity is there tomorrow, for all who want it.
“But I know, you know, that we must do more.
“So that is why today I’m announcing, that this Labour government will introduce new targeted maintenance grants for students who need them most.“
She added that students should spend their time at college or university learning or training and not “working every hour God sends.”
“That is the difference a Labour government makes,” Ms Phillipson added.
It comes as an increasing number of students are forced to take on part-time work to fund their lives while studying.
Students could need as much as £61,000 over a three-year degree "to have a minimum socially acceptable standard of living", according to recent research from the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi).
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Ms Phillipson's policy announcement comes on the same day Chancellor Rachel Reeves vowed to tackle youth unemployment.
Speaking on day two at the Liverpool conference, Ms Reeves promised to protect a generation of young people who were "frozen out of employment, education, or training".
She pledged "record investment in skills to support our young people" at the Spending Review in June, as she confirmed the rollout of a "Youth Guarantee".
"Every young person will be guaranteed either a place in a college, for those who want to continue their studies, or an apprenticeship, to help them learn a trade vital to our plans to rebuild the country, or one-to-one support to help them find a job," she said.
She also confirmed negotiations with the EU on a Youth Mobility Scheme, as she called for “rejecting the politics of isolation and division, for which our young people pay the gravest price".
"It means defying those voices which claim to speak in the national interest, but which demand that our people, our communities, and our businesses suffer the consequences of a Britain cut off from the rest of Europe,” she said.