Mat Johnstone, News Editor

 

The National Union of Students are taking legal action to stop the government’s plan to scrap maintenance grants.

The union has sent a judicial review letter to Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Business, in an attempt to halt the changes in the law.

NUS are claiming that the plans to cut maintenance grants will disadvantage the poorest university students, and are contesting the plans of equality grounds.

National Union of Students President Megan Dunn said: “It has been clear since the budget that the government has failed to assess the impact that scrapping maintenance grants will have on our poorest students.”

“There is also strong evidence that removing this support will mean our education system becomes less accessible to minority groups.”

The plans were announced by Chancellor George Osbourne this year, and could result in a loss of up to £3,387 a year for students from less well-off households.

The government plans to review the policy once it is already in place, which NUS have said it “too little, too late.”

Dunn condemned these plans as “reckless” and legal representatives of the union called upon the government to make “an open minded reconsideration of the policy” before scrapping the grants.

 

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