The Education Act 1962 gave local education authorities in the United Kingdom a mandate to pay the tuition of students attending full-time first degree (or comparable) courses and to provide them with a maintenance grant. No repayment was required.[2]

Education Act 1962
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act to make further provision with respect to awards and grants by local education authorities and the Minister of Education in England and Wales, and by education authorities and the Secretary of State in Scotland, and to enable the General Grant Order, 1960, and the General Grant (Scotland) Order, 1960, to be varied so as to take account of additional or reduced expenditure resulting from action (including anticipatory action) taken in accordance with that provision; to make further provision as to school leaving dates; and for purposes connected with the matters aforesaid.
Citation10 & 11 Eliz. 2. c. 12
Territorial extent England and Wales, Scotland
Dates
Royal assent29 March 1962
Commencement29 March 1962[1]
Repealed1 January 1999
Other legislation
Repealed byTeaching and Higher Education Act 1998
Relates toEducation Act 1944
Status: Repealed
Text of statute as originally enacted

Most local education authorities had already been paying students' tuition fees and providing maintenance grants since the Second World War. The act required both, in addition to providing for discretionary tuition payments to those entering further (vocational) education instead of universities (it was expected that the industrial training boards would pay the tuition for the majority of further education students, and that few would require maintenance since they usually studied part-time).[3] The requirement that tuition be paid and the introduction of maintenance grants on a means-tested basis led to a great increase in the number of students attending university and enabled many to attend who would not otherwise have been able to afford it.[4][5] The provisions of the act applied to students who were "ordinarily resident" in the local authority area; this was interpreted literally by the courts and in 1983 by the House of Lords, making many immigrants eligible.[6][7][8] The act had a slight effect on the minimum age for leaving school by reducing to two the times during the year when a student was permitted to leave.[9] The act was repealed in 1999 along with the introduction of tuition fees. State support for student maintenance is now provided by a combination of grants and loans.[10]

References

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  1. ^ This act came into force on the date on which it received royal assent because no other date was specified: The Acts of Parliament (Commencement) Act 1793.
  2. ^ Anderson, Robert (8 February 2016). "University fees in historical perspective". History & Policy. History & Policy. Retrieved 19 July 2016.
  3. ^ Cheung, Sin Yi; Egerton, Muriel (2007). "Great Britain: Higher Education Expansion and Reform—Changing Educational Inequalities". In Shavit, Yossi; Richard Arum; Adam Gamoran (eds.). Stratification in Higher Education: A Comparative Study. Studies in social inequality. Stanford, California: Stanford University. pp. 196–97. ISBN 9780804754620.
  4. ^ Williams, Joanna (2013). Consuming Higher Education: Why Learning Can't be Bought. Vol. 2. London: Bloomsbury Academic. p. 32. ISBN 9781441193377.
  5. ^ Henson, Don (2004). "The Educational Framework in the United Kingdom". In Henson, Don; Stone, Peter G.; Mike Corbishley (eds.). Education and the Historic Environment. Issues in heritage management. London/New York: Routledge. p. 20. ISBN 9780415284271.
  6. ^ "The Law Reports. Queen's Bench Division". The Law Reports. Queen's Bench Division, and on Appeal Therefrom in the Court of Appeal, and Decisions in the Court of Appeal Criminal Division and Employment Appeal Tribunal. Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for England and Wales: 724, 730. 1982. ISSN 0264-1127.
  7. ^ "Knight's Local Government Reports". Knight's Local Government Reports, with Local Government Statutes, Orders, &c. 80 (1): 588, 594. 1982. ISSN 0140-3281.
  8. ^ Bohan, Brian; McCarthy, Fergus (2013). Capital Acquisitions Tax (4th ed.). Haywards Heath, West Sussex: Bloomsbury. p. 10. ISBN 9781780433523.
  9. ^ Maclure, J. Stuart, ed. (2006). Educational Documents: England and Wales. Vol. 2 (5th reprinted ed.). London/New York: Routledge. p. 224. ISBN 9780415382885.
  10. ^ "Loans and grants". Student finance Guide. Government Digital Service. Retrieved 12 July 2013.