Undergraduate funding (FOI)

​Request

A

Were any discretionary awards made for Jersey undergraduate students being charged international fees in the UK in the last two years, ie in 2015 or 2014? The supplementary to this question is: If so, how many?

B

Were any non-means tested awards made for Jersey undergraduate students being required to pay more than £9,000 tuition fees either in the UK or overseas in the last two years, ie in 2015 or 2014 for any subject including but not limited to medicine? If so, how many?

C

Were any discretionary awards agreed for multi-year courses, and accordingly are there any such awards continuing to be paid for the academic year 2016 to 2017? If so, how many?

Response

Under Jersey law, all higher education grants are discretionary whether or not they are means tested. 

For the purposes of responding to this request, the definition of discretionary has been taken to apply only to those non-means tested grants made in respect of undergraduate courses for which the fees exceed the usual £10,500 limit.

Education (Discretionary Grants – Amounts) (Jersey) Order 2008 on Jersey Law website  

A and B

2014 to 2015

For the academic year 2014 to 2015, 96 students were in receipt of grants for additional fees over £10,500. (The fees limit is £10,500, with £9,000 being parental contribution and £1,500 being student contribution).

At this point in time, the additional part of the fees (over £10,500) was not means tested, and therefore, discretionary. 

Therefore, any additional fees above £10,500 were paid by Student Finance.

2015 to 2016

For the academic year 2015 to 2016, 53 students were in receipt of grants for additional fees over £10,500. 

At this point in time, a new law was applied whereby new applicants for grants above the £10,500 limit, were not automatically entitled to the additional part of the fees. 

However, a Student Finance bursary was created so undergraduate students could apply to fund the excess. 

As this bursary scheme is means tested, recipients are not included in the figure above. 

The 53 students stated above includes continuing students who applied and started university prior to the change in law and new medical students in the 2015 to 2016 academic year whose fees above £10,500 are not means tested.

C

2016 to 2017

For the academic year 2016 to 2017, 21 continuing undergraduate students on multi-year courses are currently expected to be in receipt of grants for additional fees over £10,500. 

*As some students may withdraw from their course of study for a number of reasons, the figure for the 2016 to 2017 year could change. 

The figure of 21 is based on all non-means tested students, who were not in their final year in 2015 to 2016, continuing their courses in the 2016 to 2017 academic year.