Poor put off by grant 'lottery'

Funding for further education students is a lottery. They are second-class citizens compared with their counterparts in universities, says a report from the Policy Studies Institute, an independent research body.

The Prime Minister has committed the Government to increasing the number of further education students. But, the authors point out, though the number has increased dramatically in recent years, the proportion from poor families has not. They are being put off by the lack of financial help.

In a far-reaching condemnation of the present system, the report says that only 3 per cent of England's 3.5 million further education students receive discretionary grants while three-quarters of full-time higher education students have mandatory grants.

Spending on discretionary grants has fallen by a third over the past five years. In 1994, their average value was just pounds 665 compared with pounds 1,327 for a higher education student on a mandatory grant living at home. Further education students, around three-quarters of whom are adults who are often studying part-time, also lost out in the distribution of access funds for hardship. Only 1.5 per cent receive them compared with 5 per cent of higher education students and their average value is less than a third those awarded to those in universities.

At least 100,000 further education students are on social security benefits but the Jobseeker's Allowance - which permits study for only 16 hours a week - has discouraged unemployed students.

The report, commissioned by the Further Education Funding Council, reviews research evidence on the effect of the present funding arrangements on student participation. Alicia Herbert and Claire Callender argue that it is "beyond question" that financial help can encourage poor students to attend courses and stop them dropping-out.

Ms Callender said: "Both discretionary awards and access funds have become no better than a lottery. Receipt of discretionary awards depends on where students live and what they study. Access funds depend on which college students attend. The distribution has little if anything to do with financial need or academic merit. The system favours young, full-time students while penalising adult and vocational students and those studying part time."