The official version of this document can be found via the PDF button.
The below content has been automatically generated from the original PDF and some formatting may have been lost, therefore it should not be relied upon to extract citations or propose amendments.
1240/5(2962)
WRITTEN QUESTION TO THE MINISTER FOR EDUCATION, SPORT AND CULTURE BY SENATOR B.E. SHENTON
ANSWER TO BE TABLED ON TUESDAY 18th JULY 2006
Question
In order to assist in the consultation process on university funding, would the Minister provide members with comparative figures showing the contribution made by parents of Isle of Man, Guernsey, and mainland U.K. students?
Answer
Although the fees charged by universities for students from Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man are the same, the arrangements for determining the level of parental contribution towards those fees are different in each Island and some of those arrangements can be quite complicated.
Guernsey
The level of parental income is assessed and then allowances against that income are applied. Elements of parental income, therefore, are disregarded if there are other children in the family; consideration is also given to single parents. After allowances have been taken account of, the residual income is used as a base for determining the contribution.
At the same time, the student need is also assessed according to the cost of tuition, (which varies between courses), the location of study, (there is a London weighting), and the number of weeks of study. In addition a figure of about £5,000 is added as the subsistence element.
The parental residual income is then taken account of in order to determine the level of parental contribution required.
In view of the above it is impossible to give precise details of the actual parental contribution which might be made by a particular family. Generally speaking, however, for 2006/7 a family with an income of £25,000, a sixteen year old at school and a student at university would make no contribution. The same family earning £50,000 would contribute £3,821. If the family income was £75,000, the parental contribution would be £10,071.
The Isle of Man
The Manx government pays all tuition fees and it supports parents with living and travel costs through a scheme of means-tested grants. A family with an income of £25,000 with a sixteen year old at school and a child at university would contribute £1,804. The same family with an income of £50,000 or above would be expected to pay all living and travel costs, estimated to be in the region of £5,000.
Jersey
For the same year, a family with an income of £25,000 would make no contribution. A family with an income of £50,000 would contribute £4,708 and a family earning £75,000 would contribute £9,771
The U.K.
There is no formal requirement on U.K. parents to contribute towards their children's higher education costs, in view of the fact that loans are available to students. There is, however, an inferred contribution in that the size of loan available is determined by parental income, the higher the income the smaller the loan available.