In the Spending review 2015 and the Autumn statement released today, the Government announced that it will scrap the initial plans to adopt an age cap for the postgraduate loan scheme proposed by the coalition last Autumn.
Last Autumn, the coalition set plans to introduce a loan scheme for postgraduate students, with similar terms and condition to the present scheme for undergraduates. It was announced however that only students under 30 years old will be eligible to apply for a loan. The justification given for the cap was that people under 30 meet the greatest financial barriers to accessing masters-level qualifications. The suggestion was that those over the age of 30 are more likely to have access to credit and more likely to receive funding from an employer.
The proposal was stimulated by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), which suggested in a report published in October 2o14, that postgraduate loans will have a non-repayment rate (known as the RAB charge) of 6.9 per cent. This is considerably lower than the non-repayment rate of 40%–45 %estimated for undergraduate loans.
Jenny Watkins, President of the Birmingham City University’s Students’ Union said:
“Although most of the news will have a negative effect on our students we were very pleased to hear the the age cap system proposed for postgraduate loans has been scrapped meaning that a person of any age will be entitled to a postgraduate student loan.
This is something BCUSU took to NUS National conference and had passed as policy. This led to the NUS #cappsoff lobbying campaign aimed at the government which has been a total success.”
The government intention was to adopt postgraduate loan scheme for short courses (not covering longer PhD courses) and only have the offer open for students under 30 years old. However, the IPPR’s paper modelling suggested that the scheme would be sustainable with longer courses and does not consider any age restrictions.”
Michael Smith, 32, is a second-year media student at the Birmingham City University. He believes that the scrapping of the age cap is fantastic news for all the mature students:
“As a mature undergraduate, I faced a very real cap on how far I could take my education due to funding.
“Having the opportunity to gain a postgraduate degree is extremely important, given the competitiveness for top jobs. Especially when you factor in the age element.
“With funding now available again, it means that the age discrimination is taken away from education and mature students can be competitive and enjoy equal opportunities as younger generations.”
“Funding should be available for everyone, regardless of age.”
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