The total amount of loans and grants paid to EU students to support living costs stood at ?162 million in 2012-13, which is more than double the ?75 million total of 2009-10, according to a consultation document published by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills on 1 September.
The consultation set out plans to restrict access to support for living costs to only those EU students who had lived in the UK for five years – instead of the current three-year requirement.
On support for tuition fees, the document shows that in total 33,900 EU-domiciled students studying in England received help in 2012-13, up from 31,700 in 2011-12.