Susan Hay, Europe executive director of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, told Nursery World that the increase could encourage more organisations to invest capital in the provision of nurseries on campus, as they could be run in a commercially viable way.
Her comments followed an announcement from the Department for Education and Skills outlining plans to raise the amount students receive through the Childcare Grant in England.
Currently, students with one child receive up to 114.75 per week (85 per cent of total costs), while those with two or more children receive up to 170. From September, payments will rise to a maximum of 148.75 and 255 per week respectively.
Ms Hay said, 'One of the challenges is always to find an economic market both students and staff can afford. Universities and colleges have always had to be careful about how they spend money to subsidise students and some have formerly kept these nursery places for staff. Now they will be able to increase them for students.'
The DfES also revealed plans to extend the eligibility criteria for the Higher Education Childcare Grant to include care authorised under the new Childcare Approval Scheme. This means student parents will be able to use flexible arrangements, such as carers in their own homes, which would relieve the time and costs of travelling to childcare.
Higher education minister Bill Rammell said, 'I am delighted to be able to confirm the detail of the new entitlements. Parents will also benefit from an increase in choice as we extend the scheme to cover settings approved under the Childcare Approval Scheme.'
She continued, 'The subsidies are pretty close to the market rate. It's going to be beneficial for students and will strengthen the market as organisations like ours would be more inclined to help out on the capital side.'
