Universities will be given an additional £15 million in funding this year to help ease cost-of-living pressures for disadvantaged students.
Tuition fees for degrees in England will be frozen at a maximum level of £9,250 for the next two years and maximum student loans for living costs will rise by 2.8% in 2023/24, the Department for Education (DfE) has said.
But the Russell Group, which represents some of the most selective institutions in the UK, said it was “disappointing” that the Government had “failed to deliver a meaningful increase” to maintenance loans despite warnings that students could be left £1,500 a year worse off.
The announcement from the DfE comes after university leaders had warned that students could abandon their degree courses unless “immediate action” was taken to offset the cost of living.
