Higher Education Policy Changes in England - AY 2006/07
Published 29 October 2019
Applies to England
© Crown copyright 2019
This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.
Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.
This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-policy-changes-in-england/higher-education-policy-changes-in-england-ay-200607
1. Key elements of the student support arrangements introduced in 2006/07
New student support arrangements were introduced for new full-time students entering HE from September 2006.
1.1 Tuition Fee Loan
New full-time students studying in England became subject to tuition fees of £3,000 per year, and students were able to defer payment of these fees up front by taking out a non means tested Tuition Fee Loan. Students could take out as much or as little fee loan as they chose, up to the maximum amount of fees being charged. As well as being available to 2006/07 entrants, the Tuition Loan was also available to pre-2006/07 entrants if they made a full or partial contribution to their fixed fees, up to a maximum of £1,200.
1.2 Maintenance Grant
New English domiciled students who started their course from September 2006 were eligible to apply for an income-assessed Maintenance Grant of up to £2,700. The new Maintenance Grant replaced the Higher Education grant.
1.3 Maintenance Loan
New students attending full-time courses in 2006/07 continued to be eligible for a partially means-tested Maintenance Loan. The amount of Maintenance Loan available was reduced by £1 for every £1 of Maintenance Grant received, up to a maximum of £1,200. The maximum amount of support available was therefore lower than the sum of the maximum Maintenance Loan and the maximum Maintenance Grant.
1.4 Repayments
Students become liable to repay from the April after they leave their course. They repay 9% of their income above the repayment threshold, which rose from £15,000 to £15,795 on 6 April 2012 in line with RPI, and again to £16,365 on 6 April 2013.
1.5 Additional Grants and Allowances
The Government continued to offer grants and allowances to students in particular circumstances. These included Adult Dependants Grant (ADG), Child Care Grant (CCG), Parents’ Learning Allowance (PLA) and Disabled Students Allowances (DSA). With the exception of DSA, these grants are all means tested.
2. Further Information
Further information on student loans policies can be found on the Student Finance England practitioners website.