Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect on college students in cases where the uplift in universal credit has resulted in them being ineligible for a fee waiver as per the threshold set out in the Adult Education Budget.

We are aware of the changes to the Universal Credit thresholds in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. As a result, in October 2020, we will be updating the criteria by which learners benefit from full funding in the Education and Skills Funding Agency’s adult education budget funding rules 2020 to 2021 to reflect this.