Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to support students from low income families with the cost of living.

The department recognises the additional cost of living pressures that have arisen this year which have impacted students. On 11 January 2023, the department announced a one-off reallocation of funding to add £15 million to this year's student premium to support additional hardship requests. There is now £276 million of student premium funding available this academic year to support disadvantaged students. This extra funding will complement the support universities are providing through their own bursary, scholarship and hardship support schemes. The department works with the Office for Students (OfS) to ensure that universities support students using both hardship funds and the student premium.

The department has continued to increase maximum loans and grants each year, with a 2.3% increase for the current 2022/23 academic year, and a further 2.8% increase for 2023/24. Loans that support with students’ living costs are a contribution towards their living costs while attending university, with the highest levels of support targeted at students who need it the most, such as students from low-income families. Students who have been awarded a loan for living costs for the 2022/23 academic year that is lower than the maximum, and whose household income for the tax year 2022/23 has dropped by at least 15% compared to the income provided for their original assessment, can apply for their entitlement to be reassessed.

All households will save on their energy bills through the Energy Price Guarantee and the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme discount. Students who buy their energy from a domestic supplier are eligible for the energy bills discount. The Energy Prices Act 2022, passed on 25 October 2022, includes the provision that requires landlords to pass any benefits they receive from energy price support onto end users, as appropriate. Further details of the requirements under this Act are set out in the legislation.

The Energy Bill Relief Scheme provides a price reduction to ensure that all businesses and other non-domestic customers are protected from high energy bills this winter, including universities and private purpose-built student accommodation providers.