The UK government is currently in a consultation process over a set of proposed changes to the student loan regime. According to an impact study by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS), the changes to eligibility for the loans would have a significant impact on low-income and ethnic minority families in particular.
The study found that nearly a quarter of recent black undergraduates at English universities would not have qualified for loans under the proposed changes to the scheme, which would block access to applicants who fail to achieve at least a grade 4 (Pass) in English and Maths at GCSE (secondary) level.
This government parrots the language of ‘levelling up’ but these proposals are classist, ableist and racist. They cruelly target those from marginalised communities, and seek to gatekeep education.
Larissa Kennedy, President of the National Union of Students
Read the full IFS Briefing Note on the proposed policy and its impacts here.
