Five Things You Need to Know About The 2017 Budget

With the recent Brexit turmoil and unstable economic environment, the chancellor Phillip Hammond is under immense pressure to deliver effectively. With that in mind, his spending plans for the 2017 budget have been heavily anticipated. But, does the proposed plan recently released live up to expectations? Underneath all of the small talk and waffle, what is it that us students actually need to know? Here are the top five things about the budget that we should be clued up on…

More pay?

• The National Living Wage is being raised from £7.20 to £7.50 from the 1st April. Essentially, anyone over the age of 25 who is not in their first year of apprenticeship is entitled to earn this much per hour. For those aged 21-24, the minimum wage is being raised to £7.05 and for 18-20’s, £5.60. This is an increase of 10p and 5p respectively so those of you with part-time jobs earning minimum wage should

expect a pay rise at the end of the month!

Longer loans?

• Maintenance loans are now available to part-time degrees and doctoral loans of up to £25,000. Good news to those of us who are looking to continue our studies after graduation!

• £90 million will be donated to create new phD placements within Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths subjects. Again, good news for those who are looking into going into research and academia. Considering a phD? Then there should be more opportunities available for you to work on what you are interested in!

Supported vocations?

• T-Levels will be introduced to simplify the process of vocational training in subjects such as beauty therapy and construction. This option as an alternative to university degrees could result in a decline in students wanting to go to university and to carry out more specialist courses. This could potentially mean less uni students so a reduction in available courses and lecturers. Click here to read more about what T-levels actually are!

Robots to think for us?

• £500 million will be invested towards developing Artificial Intelligence, Electronic and Robotic research. Further insight into these areas could result in an entirely different learning experience. Imagine, instead of having to memorize all the bones of the body from staring at a piece of paper, you might be able to carry out a virtual tour of a real-life anatomy and see if for yourself!

So there we have it, to have a look at the other spending budgets that Hammond proposed for Spring 2017, check out this link.