Student grants are to be cut after the government underestimated the number of applicants.
The government has announced that financial support for university students is to be cut from next year. Universities secretary John Denham confirmed that the family income threshold below which students are eligible to receive partial grants will be reduced from £60,000 to £50,020.
It is believed that around ten per cent of students - mainly those from middle-income families - will lose out as a result of the move, which was made after the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills underestimated increases in its higher education bill, leaving it with a £200 million shortfall in funding.
Students with a family income below £25,000 will still be entitled to a full grant of £2,906, while existing students will be unaffected by the changes, Mr Denham confirmed. "The key thing is that we are not changing the lower threshold for the full grant," he told the Guardian.
Commenting on the government's announcement, Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, said the lowering of the upper threshold will "inevitably" hit new students from middle-income families. He urged ministers to stop "tinkering" with student finance and carry out a full review of the system.
According to official figures, student debt in the UK currently stands at £22 billion, while the average student leaves a three-year university course with debts of around £30,000.
