Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to support university students facing financial hardship as a result of the covid-19 outbreak.

The government is aware of the disproportionate impact the crisis will have on some students.

We are making available an additional £50 million of hardship funding this financial year. In total we have made £70 million of funding available for student hardship given the £20 million made available to higher education providers in December 2020.

Providers will have flexibility in how they distribute the funding to students, in a way that will best prioritise those in greatest need. The funding can be distributed to a wide population of students, including postgraduates (whether taught or research) and international students.

This money is in addition to the £256 million of Student Premium funding higher education providers are able draw on this academic year towards student hardship funds.

We know that not all students will face financial hardship. The current measures aim to target support for students in greatest need and the government continues to monitor the situation going forward to look at what impact this funding is having.

On 13 January 2021, I wrote to the Office for Students, the regulator for higher education providers in England and outlined government expectations of the higher education sector. Universities should maintain the quality and quantity of tuition and seek to ensure that all students, regardless of their background, have the resources to study remotely.