On Monday The Department for Education released the Equality Analysis of changes to student finance for 2018/19 – an assessment of the effect that changes made to higher education student finance will have on groups with relevant protected characteristics.
The changes for the 2018 to 19 academic year include:
- increases in grants and loans for living and other costs for undergraduates. This includes the inflationary uplift (3.25%) to maintenance loans/grants and tuition fees.
- increases in loans for students undertaking postgraduate master’s courses
- Department of Health removal of NHS bursaries and replacement with loans for new students starting postgraduate and dental profession healthcare courses
- other amendments to the student finance support system
The freeze of the tuition fee cap will make the offer more attractive to students from lower-income backgrounds. However, changes to the NHS bursary are found to have a negative impact on women.
The relevant protected characteristics, identified in the Equality Act 2010, include:
- disability
- gender reassignment
- pregnancy and maternity
- race
- religion or belief
- sex and sexual orientation