Oral Answers to Questions

Afzal Khan Excerpts

Monday 17th December 2018 Commons Chamber

[Nadhim Zahawi]

The hon. Gentleman has made an important point about funding. We are working with the sector, and with the Local Government Association, to ensure that we are in a good place for the spending review.

[Afzal Khan (Manchester, Gorton) (Lab)]

13. What recent assessment he has made of the financial effect on students in higher education of the current cost of living.

[The Minister for Universities, Science, Research and Innovation (Chris Skidmore)]

It is good to be back at the Dispatch Box.

The most recent assessment of the living costs of English-domiciled full-time and part-time undergraduates was the 2014-15 student income and expenditure survey, which found that the average living costs of full-time undergraduates were about £7,000.

[Afzal Khan]

According to a recent report in the Huffington Post, the living costs of students in Manchester have rocketed by 37% in the last 10 years. Cost should not be a barrier to accessing the country’s best universities, such as the University of Manchester. What is the Minister doing to encourage universities to keep students’ costs affordable?

[Chris Skidmore]

Students who started their courses in the current academic year have had access to the highest ever funding levels to support their living costs. We now have a system of support that targets those from the lowest-income families, who need it the most. A record number of 18-year-olds from disadvantaged backgrounds went to university this year, 68% more than in 2009.[Official Report, 20 December 2018, Vol. 651, c. 6MC.]