Lib Dems say grants must be reintroduced

Liberal Democrats this week warned the government that it was in danger of missing its 50 per cent higher education participation target unless it scrapped tuition fees and reintroduced maintenance grants.

Lib Dem higher education spokesman David Rendel said that the 2 per cent increase in overall applications, from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service, included an increase in students from abroad as well as Scottish students who pay no upfront fees and are eligible for grants.

He said that if these factors were stripped out, then the increase in home English and Welsh applications was only 0.5 per cent and this level of annual increase would not be enough to reach the target by 2010.