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Tens of thousands of the poorest part-time students are to get extra money to help pay university fees and meet rising living costs, ministers will announce today. The students’ grant will rise by more than 25%, while the money available through "hardship funds" will multiply.
    The announcement follows growing concern that those institutions with a high proportion of part-time students will lose when tuition fees for full-time courses start next year. The education secretary, Ruth Kelly, said yesterday that such students played a crucial role in higher education, and the proposed measures would ensure part-time undergraduate courses remained open to all. There are around 500,000 part-timers in higher education in England. The government expects 85,000 to benefit from the financial package.
    Yesterday David Latchman, of Birkbeck College, London, which educates thousands of part-timers, said the proposals were a step in the right direction: "This announcement begins to adjust the balance so that part-time students who might struggle to pay fees will now have access to the financial support they need. The government has been listening to our concerns, and we consider this a good outcome."
    Universities will charge up to ￡3,000 in tuition fees for full-time courses from September 2006. These fees are not paid back until students have graduated. But part-time students have to pay their fees in advance. Those institutions with a high proportion of part-timers feared they would not be able to raise fees without pricing many out of the market.
    The grant will rise to ￡750 for those who study half time and to ￡1,125 for those who study three quarters of the time. The money in the hardship fund, which universities can allocate to students facing particular financial difficulties, will rise from ￡3 million to ￡12 million.