Higher Education Policy Changes in England - AY 2009/10
Published 29 October 2019
Applies to England
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This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/higher-education-policy-changes-in-england/higher-education-policy-changes-in-england-ay-200910
1. Key changes for 2009/10 New Entrants
1.1 Maintenance Grant
For new English domiciled students attending a course from September 2009, the household income thresholds for Maintenance Grant support were changed. Although the threshold for entitlement to a maximum grant remained at £25,000, the threshold for entitlement to a partial grant was adjusted from £60,032 for students who had started their courses in 2008/09 to £50,020 for new students.
1.2 Maintenance Loan
The non means tested element of the Maintenance Loan was adjusted - from 75% for new students who started their courses before 2009/10 to 72% of the maximum loan amount for new students. As a result, the means tested element of the Maintenance Loan was adjusted from 25% to 28% of the maximum loan amount. The grant/loan substitution was changed from a £1 reduction in loan for every £1 of Maintenance Grant received, up to the maximum of £1,292, for students who started their courses before 2009/10, to a £0.50 reduction in loan for every £1 of Maintenance Grant received for new students. The maximum amount of support available was therefore lower than the sum of the maximum Maintenance Loan and the maximum maintenance grant.
1.3 Tax year
From 2009/10, full-time students were required for the first time to supply financial evidence for the prior tax year for assessment of their application. For 2009/10, this meant that applicants were required to supply financial evidence for the 2007/08 tax year when being assessed for means tested student support. This change was intended to allow applicants to apply for student support at an earlier stage than in previous years.
2. Further Information
Further information on student loans policies can be found on the Student Finance England practitioners website.