Public Accounts Committee publishes report into Student Awards Scheme
The Island's approach to tuition fees generally 'makes higher education cheaper and more accessible than for those in the UK' but the maintenance grant threshold has not kept pace with inflation.
They're the findings of a new report published by the Public Accounts Committee which says this is likely to make higher education unaffordable even if topped up by the student working part time.
It also found that those learning part time, or via distance learning, are disadvantaged compared to the full-time cohort.
The PAC has shared a number of recommendations following its inquiry into the efficiency and effectiveness of the Isle of Man’s Student Awards Scheme which started in January 2023.
VALUE FOR MONEY
The committee concluded that the Student Awards Scheme 'needs to demonstrate that it provides value for money'.
Around £10 million is spent every year supporting Manx students through higher education.
The committee found that 'generally speaking, the Island’s approach to tuition fees makes higher education cheaper and more accessible than for those in the UK'.
But it says 'the fewer the number of graduates who return to work on Island following completion of their studies, the lower the return on the investment being made'.
It adds it's not currently possible to ascertain whether 'resourcing is focused into the right areas with the most positive impact' and this needs to be addressed.
GRANTS
For full time undergraduate and postgraduate study, where the student resides away from the Island, the department may make a means tested grant of a maximum of £6,750 for tuition fees and £8,100 for maintenance each year; a further £2,500 towards tuition fees can be taken as a loan.
For most courses this is available for no longer than four years.
The £6,750 means-tested grant plus the £2,500 loan (totalling £9,250) is the annual tuition fee charged to English or Welsh students for most courses.
Eligibility for a maintenance grant is also means tested based on the net income of any contributor.
The maximum grant of £8,100, or £8,640 for London, is available where net income does not exceed £21,547 and the grant amount available reduces on a sliding scale to a minimum of £300 per year at the maximum income of £70,145.47.
The PAC says: "We note that the threshold for a full grant currently falls below the income of a minimum wage earner working full time at 37 hours a week which is £22,030; and the equivalent for a worker earning living wage of £25,108.50.
"We believe that this means that the threshold for a full maintenance grant is too low."
It also found that 'the access to learning landscape has changed significantly in recent years and distance learning is now an option for people who cannot, or do not want to, move away' and that 'equitable support for this cohort is not provided in the current system'.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The committee concludes that the student awards policy aims and the educational aims in the Island Plan 'are not fully aligned' and that the Student Awards Scheme needs to 'demonstrate that it provides value for money'.
It has penned 13 recommendations for Tynwald to approve next month:
Recommendation 1
That Tynwald is of the opinion that the Department of Education, Sport and Culture should review the student awards policy aims to ensure they align with the educational aims in the Island Plan.
Recommendation 2
That Tynwald is of the opinion that the Department of Education, Sport and Culture should collect data to allow it to undertake quantitative and qualitative analysis of the outcomes of student awards funding to assist in understanding whether the resources invested are delivering the most positive impact.
We conclude that the hybrid grant and loan support available to students studying off Island is sufficient to make tuition fees affordable in most cases.
We conclude that maintenance grants do not cover enough of the costs of living away from home while undertaking higher education and this may mean, contrary to the policy, that some students are denied access due to affordability.
The level of maintenance grants has been uplifted in line with inflation, but qualifying income levels have not, and are below both the minimum and living wage; this means over time the proportion of students from lower income households who are eligible for a full grant has been reducing.
Where an enforceable agreement to continue financial support for a post-18 student is not in place students may be at a disadvantage, particularly where the combined income of contributors places them beyond the threshold for a maintenance grant.
Recommendation 3
That Tynwald is of the opinion that the minimum income threshold at which a full maintenance grant will be awarded should be uplifted to at least £30,388 and the thresholds should then be adjusted annually in line with inflation.
Recommendation 4
That Tynwald is of the opinion that the Department of Education, Sport and Culture should work with Treasury to ensure that a formal investigation and debt collection process for maximising the recovery of student loan debt is in place.
The access to learning landscape has changed significantly in recent years and distance learning is now an option for people who cannot, or do not want to, move away; equitable support for this cohort is not provided in the current system.
It is unclear why the maximum maintenance grant for Island based students is £2,700 lower than for those studying elsewhere; the differential appears to be greater than the likely cost of travel; on-Island study is not incentivised under the current arrangements.
Recommendation 5
That Tynwald is of the opinion that the Department of Education, Sport and Culture should review support for full time distance learning courses and those undertaking full time study at the University College of Man with a view to providing support equivalent, excepting a proportion for travel costs, to those undertaking full time study elsewhere.
As described, the disability support allowance assessment process seems proportionate although levels have failed to keep pace with inflation, and we believe this diminution in support is unacceptable.
We note that access to this support is not means tested if a student qualifies for any other funding.
However it is a concern that where the contributor income exceeds the threshold for general funding support this prevents access to the disabled student allowance.
Recommendation 6
That Tynwald is of the opinion that the Department of Education, Sport and Culture should increase disability support levels to at least £2,600 per annum for the annual allowance; £19,760 per annum for a medical helper; £7,800 for the one–off payment; and that these should be adjusted annually, in line with inflation; consideration should also be given to the removal of the upper contributor income limit.
The academic requirements of 80 UCAS points, set by the Department, can be viewed as one way of supporting the Island Plan aim that ‘resourcing is focused into the right areas with the most positive impact.’
Noting that prospective students can take time to attain the necessary qualifications or self-fund the first year we think that evidence of academic achievement is an acceptable criterion for recent school leavers applying for support for academic courses.
The current regulations could disadvantage students seeking support for more vocational or skills-based qualifications and mature students, who could have other experience which may make them suitable for further or higher education.
Recommendation 7
That Tynwald is of the opinion that the Department for Education, Sport and Culture should consider alternative options to the academic achievement eligibility criterion, currently 80 UCAS points, to permit access to funding for those with other relevant experience, qualifications or clear alternative career paths.
We suggest that not including provision in the Isle of Man Student Awards Scheme for financial support for additional study at the same level, particularly to address skills gaps, is a missed opportunity.
The residency regulations may be a disincentive to families wishing to relocate; this does not support the Island Plan aim of encouraging inward migration, however it is consistent with wider government policy around support for longer term residents.
The introduction of the online portal for Student Award applications has been a significant achievement and we would encourage the Department to continue to develop the system.
Recommendation 8
That Tynwald is of the opinion that the Department of Education, Sport and Culture should work with the Treasury to implement a statutory automated transfer of information to the student awards system from the income tax system, for income data, and also with schools for results data.
While we can see that there has been some take up for each of the available schemes there is a lack of information collected about the outcomes.
The data being gathered is quantitative so does not assist in understanding whether the schemes made a difference in an individual’s decision to return or relocate or how long those in receipt of these incentives remain.
This is a significant weakness, and we would encourage the departments involved in the review work signalled above to make such analysis a part of all such funding schemes in the future.
Recommendation 9
That Tynwald is of the opinion that departments involved in designing incentive schemes for employers and employees should have a clear vision for the policy outcomes and ensure adequate data is collected, from the outset, to assess success.
We support the principles outlined in the Skills Strategy and recognise that the student awards scheme, bursaries or other incentives, could be leveraged to provide an enhanced level of support for areas where skills shortages in employment are identified; we expect Skills Isle of Man to take the lead on this work and measure and report on outcomes.
Recommendation 10
Tynwald is of the opinion that Skills Isle of Man should identify how incentives could be used to address skills shortages; to include consideration of the use of bursaries, schemes including loan forgiveness and removing the bar to funding support for study at the same level as a previous qualifications; and submit a report, including a timed implementation plan with details of the expected costs and benefits, to Tynwald in time for it to be debated at the March 2026 sitting.
Some of our earlier recommendations, if dealt with in isolation, could result in an overall increase in the cost of the student awards scheme. We do not believe this is inevitable or desirable.
There are many different models of financial support for students, and we believe the Department could successfully address the recommendations in this report without increasing the overall cost if the student awards framework is revised.
Funding for incentive schemes and bursaries is dealt with separately in Recommendation 10.
We believe that increasing access to loan provision, which could include introducing access to loans for maintenance costs, assisting more students to undertake higher education, would allow whichever recommendations are approved by Tynwald to be achieved within the existing cost envelope.
To be clear this is not a rejection of the current maintenance grant provision, as much as is affordable should continue.
Rather, it is a recognition of the fact that, contrary to the aims of the Student Awards Scheme, for many students the funding is just not sufficient; they are being denied access due to affordability.
Recommendation 11
That Tynwald is of the opinion that the Student Awards Scheme should continue to provide tuition fee and maintenance support through a combination of means-tested grants and access to loans.
Recommendation 12
That the Department of Education, Sport and Culture should consider how to expand loan provision in order to offer loans for maintenance support in order to meet their ‘affordable for all’ policy objective.
Finally we have made a number of recommendations in this report and our final one is simply that the Department of Education, Sport and Culture should report on those which Tynwald approves.
Recommendation 13
The Department of Education, Sport and Culture should submit a report to Tynwald, included a timed and costed implementation plan, in time for debate at the sitting in May 2025; and progress reports should be submitted annually thereafter until all of the approved recommendations have been implemented.
DEBATE
The full report and its recommendations will be debated at next month's sitting of Tynwald.
You can find it HERE.
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