Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of (1) the potential impacts of reintroducing non-repayable maintenance grants for higher education students from disadvantaged backgrounds; and (2) the potential benefits of funding university students to deliver targeted tutoring to disadvantaged school pupils.

The government is determined that the higher education (HE) funding system should deliver for the economy, for universities and for students and will look carefully at all options and come forward with proposals.

Funding plans for the HE sector will be set out at the relevant fiscal event, in line with the approach to public spending commitments across government. ​​

All HE providers registered with the Office for Students (OfS), that intend to charge higher fees, must have an Access and Participation Plan (APP) approved by the OfS. These need to set out the underrepresented groups they will support and the ways that they will do so. Interventions can include tutoring disadvantaged students in the local area, but also activities such as academy sponsorship, outreach, summer schools and student bursaries. HE providers are expected to evaluate their interventions to demonstrate effectiveness.