| Practice area: | Education and Labour Markets | Higher education | Labour markets |
|---|---|
| Client: | University of the Arts London |
| Published: | 19 July, 2025 |
| Keywords: | higher education Economic Impact Education Student Loans Students UAL |
As part of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Students, London Economics were commissioned by the University of the Arts London on behalf of the National Union of Students to assess the impact on the Exchequer, students/graduates, and higher education institutions of introducing maintenance grants and alternative repayment options in respect of undergraduate student loans across the UK.
The APPG report includes a list of recommendations for both the government and universities over issues such as Access and Student Outcomes, High Quality Teaching, and Student Funding including:
- Implementing a stepped repayment model where graduates pay 2% on earnings between £12,570-£27,570 up to 8% of earnings of £57,571 or more. This system would have almost identical Exchequer costs but eliminates the most regressive features in the current fees and funding system.
- Reintroduce maintenance grants to ensure that low income students don’t end up graduating with a higher debt burden
- Increase maintenance funding in line with the cost of living annually, and ensure that student rent rises are less than this each year.
- Create a minimum student income linked to the living wage, which rises in line with inflation
- Review and improve current mechanisms for determining the level of maintenance a student is entitled to (such as household income thresholds, and the age at which a student is considered to be independent)
The full report is available here.