Maintenance grants to return for some students

The government has not yet said how much money eligible students will be able to receive in the grant, but - like maintenance loans, which students in England can still receive - the amount will be means-tested, meaning it depends how much a student's family earns.

It comes as a growing number of students are having to take on part-time work to fund their time at university, as the gap continues to increase between the rising cost of living and the money available from maintenance loans.

Recent research from the Higher Education Policy Institute (Hepi) suggests students in England need £61,000 over a three-year degree "to have a minimum socially acceptable standard of living".

The think tank found the maximum annual maintenance loan covers "just half the costs faced by freshers".

And a recent Save the Student survey, external suggested that, on average, maintenance loans have been falling £502-a-month short of living costs.

Tom Allingham, student money expert at Save the Student, welcomed the announcement, but said the government should "think bigger" by making all students eligible, rather than just those on "priority courses".

"Simply replacing a chunk of the loan with a grant will make no difference to the intense financial struggles students face, and the number one thing they need right now is more money in their pockets," he said.

"We eagerly await more details on the new funding, and hope the government will listen to the needs of students when fine-tuning their plans."

Alex Stanley, from the National Union of Students, said the reintroduction of grants "has to be the beginning of wholesale change in our broken education system".

Although they "do not welcome the introduction of a levy on international students", he said they were "ecstatic that maintenance grant funding is back on the table".

Hepi's Nick Hillman similarly said the return of grants was "long overdue", but that the tax on international student fees was "not the right way to do it".

"We should not be charging international students, who often come from countries much poorer than the UK, to cover the living costs of our own home students," he said.

When it comes to maintenance loans, the maximum yearly amount students from England can receive if they are living away from their parents, outside of London, is £10,544.

Students from Wales studying away from home can borrow up to £11,345, and some Welsh students are already entitled to maintenance grants.

In Scotland, the maximum annual maintenance loan is £9,400 for under-25s, and there is a number of bursaries and grants students there can apply for too.