Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will undertake a review of (a) the operation of discretionary 16 to 19 bursary schemes in further education colleges and (b) whether household-income thresholds should be reviewed and uprated periodically in line with inflation and changes in living costs.

The department’s 16 to 19 Bursary Funding includes allocations to institutions to provide discretionary bursaries. Institutions are free to decide which young people receive discretionary bursaries and to determine the level of financial support they need.

Institutions develop their own eligibility criteria and are free to decide how household income will be assessed to identify those who would not otherwise be able to continue in further education or training but it must comply with the basic eligibility conditions of the scheme as set out in the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund guide.

The department will devolve funding for 16 to 19-year-olds to Strategic Authorities for them to have a stronger role in shaping local education and skills systems, so that provision is better connected to learners, employers and local opportunity.