Three measures were announced in Budget 2011 relating to the student grant schemes:

A: Reduction in overall rates of grant

• A reduction of 4% is to be applied to the rates of all student grants.
• This reduction applies to all existing grant holders and to new grant holders alike.
• The implementation date is January 2011.

B: Qualifying distance criterion for non-adjacent rate of grant

• The qualifying distance criterion for entitlement to the higher non-adjacent rate of grant (distance from home to the higher education institution) has been changed from 15 miles (24 kilometres) to 45 kilometres.   
• This measure applies to all students.
• The implementation date is the start of the 2011-2012 academic year.

C: Automatic entitlement of mature students to non-adjacent rate of grant.

• The automatic entitlement of mature students to the higher non-adjacent rate of payment has been removed.
• The implementation date is the start of the 2011-2012 academic year.