FOCUS: How the former Education Minister is aiming to re-shape student finance

Friday 01 March 2024

The former Education Minister is aiming to bring the “outdated” Government student finance scheme into line with the current needs of Jersey’s young people with proposals for 10 key changes to the system.

Some of the changes that Deputy Inna Gardiner is seeking to make with her proposition include allowing more students to access a “clinical component” grant of over £1,000 and dealing with what she describes as “discrimination” in the funding scheme against students on distance learning courses.

Thresholds for means-tested funding could also change in line with inflation and salaries, and sliding scales could be introduced pending the outcome of a debate later this month.

It comes after the leader of the Jersey Student Loans Support Group said that cost-of-living rises were putting some families and students into hardship, particularly those who were on courses with placements that did not qualify for the clinical component grant.

"Some students have no choice but to pay twice for accommodation"

Nicki Heath, leader of the Student Loans Support Group, previously told Express: "For many students whose courses involve placements away from where they study they face additional costs. These include accommodation, travel, etcetera.

"Some students have no choice but to pay twice for accommodation because they have contracts for rents. They can't dip and out and hope to find somewhere new to live every few weeks, so they often find short term accommodation or will travel from where their contracted accommodation is.

"It isn't just paramedics, this extends to many courses related to medicine, like social work and trainee teachers who are not mentioned at all in the regulations.

"Other funding options students might qualify for are the field allowance and the vacation study allowance, but these have strict criteria, and have to be applied for far in advance."

She added: "We would much prefer to see any changes advised before next Christmas as students and/or parents who are making final choices and applications through UCAS have no certainty what funding there will be in September. The longer they have to financially plan the better."

This issue has cropped up a few times in the past, but the minister left the regulations unchanged last year, Nicki added.

When the group contacted Education Minister Inna Gardiner late last year, she said she was meeting with her policy team in mid-January to discuss the Education (Grants and Allowances) Order.

Political hold-up

These meetings were then put on hold during the political turmoil which saw the then-Chief Minister Deputy Kristina Moore ousted and new Chief Minister Lyndon Farnham take her place.

Deputy Gardiner lost her role as Education Minister during the ensuring shake-up, and chose not to stand again. She has now been appointed to oversee the work of Scrutiny. 

Deputy Gardiner, who had been undertaking a review of the law around higher education funding when she was Children's and Education Minister, said her proposition was "designed to target small improvements which could help our young people to achieve and aspire to higher education".

Pictured: Deputy Inna Gardiner was undertaking a review of the system during her time in Government.

Bidding to make change from the backbenches, she added: "This proposition is brought in the hope of addressing some of the outdated thresholds, definitions and policies that are applied to the provision of higher-education student funding."

Clinical component grants

Currently, an extra maintenance grant of between £1,068 to £1,143 ("clinical component grant") is available to those on courses which have a period of study involving clinical training – these are classified as medicine, veterinary, dentistry or nursing students.

Students training to be paramedics, pharmacists and physiotherapists had previously raised concerns that they were not eligible – but the amount could become available to "related subjects" which require placements, including these courses.

Distance learning

The former minister is also hoping to ensure that all distance learning courses are funded to the same level as in-person courses, following the same funding application process and criteria.

She said: "Current distance learning policy is based on the view that students will be able to learn and work.

"Indeed, distance learning was historically considered part-time. However, since the pandemic, changes in our ways of learning and studying have resulted in full-time distance courses becoming available.

"Enabling distance learners to access the same means-tested maintenance grant as all other degrees, studied in-person and on-Island, would allow more students to undertake further education."

Deputy Gardiner has requested that the newly appointed Education and Lifelong Learning Minister – Deputy Rob Ward – makes these changes to the Education (Grants and Allowances) (Jersey) Order 2018 before the next academic year begins in September.

Further down the line... in line with inflation

Changes she hopes to see implemented before September 2025 include updates to thresholds for means-tested funding in line with inflation and introducing a sliding scale.

She explained: "Earnings have increased, but real-time earnings have decreased, resulting in more students losing their eligibility to grants relative to disposable income."

Student loans?

Finally, Deputy Gardiner wants the Treasury Department to look into the idea of making student loans – as well as grants – available to Jersey students.

"With the rising costs of pretty much everything, it would seem an ideal time to consider implementing additional loan funding for students," she said.