Welsh election: Tory admits students could be worse off

Students could be worse off under a Welsh Conservative plan to replace tuition fee grants with rent subsidies, the party's leader has admitted.

Taking audience questions on a live BBC TV election special, Andrew RT Davies claimed Welsh Labour's tuition fee subsidies were "unaffordable".

He added that living costs were a bigger barrier than tuition fees.

Mr Davies said he also wanted to see parity between academic and vocational education.

Students from Wales currently pay the first £3,810 a year of their tuition fees, with the Welsh Government paying the rest, up to a maximum of an extra £5,190.

Speaking on the first of BBC Wales' Ask the Leader programmes, Mr Davies admitted students "would end up with less" money under his party's proposal.

But he claimed: "All parties know that the current system is unaffordable.

"Our package is £400m over the five years of the assembly and ultimately the current package of support is heading towards £250m a year," he said.

The Welsh Conservatives have previously announced plans to pay half of the rent of students from Wales, wherever they go to college in the UK.

"There would not be support for living with your parents - it is for students who move away," Mr Davies said.

"It would be an upfront payment, rather than having to wait to be paid," he added.

"The biggest put-off to students about going to university is these upfront costs that deter many people accessing the university of their choice."

Welsh Labour has ruled out means testing for university tuition fee grants if the party remains in power after the election in May.

Plaid Cymru would scrap tuition fee subsidies and instead pay Welsh students working in Wales after graduation £6,000 a year, up to a maximum of £18,000.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats also want to move away from subsidising tuition fees to helping students pay their living costs.

UKIP has said it would like to cut tuition fees, while the Greens have called for free university education across the UK.