A GRANT paid towards tuition fees for Welsh students should be scrapped and replaced with a system that supports living costs, a review has concluded.

The review of higher education funding and student finance arrangements suggests all students receive £1,000 a year, and an additional means tested grant.

An expert panel, led by Professor Sir Ian Diamond, reckons the average student could receive £7,000 a year.

But the current £5,100 grant towards tuition fees would be scrapped, with a student loan covering it all.

The existing tuition fee grant in Wales is considered unsustainable. But changes are unlikely until 2018 at the earliest.

The proposal represents a major funding shift, and the Welsh Government has lauded it as the most generous student finance support package in the UK.

It says it will mean students would receive the equivalent of the National Living Wage during term time, with the average Welsh student getting £7,000 a year in grant support, with a pro-rata version available to part-time students.

The maximum level of support would be £9,113 a year for full-time students, with the highest level going to those most in need.

The proposal seeks to ensure that those wishing to go to university can do so, while making the system more sustainable in the long term.

The key proposal is that the top rate of maintenance grant and/or loan support, for a student living away from home outside London, should be equivalent to the National Living Wage. This would be paid monthly to students, to enable more efficient budgeting.

“Funding of higher education should be a partnership between wider society and the individual,” said Professor Diamond.

“In contrast to England, where maintenance support for students will be based on loans, we propose a significant universal element of maintenance support for full-time students, meaning students from Wales will face a significantly lower average level of debt on leaving university.”

Education secretary Kirsty Williams said the Welsh Government backs the report’s principles, and will look closely at how it can implement the recommendations.

“We want to make sure that those who wish to go on to university are able to. The fear of not being able to meet the cost of living on a daily basis puts many off, not the prospect of paying back loans after they are in work.”

Universities Wales welcomed the review findings, a spokesman saying: “There is a body of evidence that shows students need financial support whilst studying.”

Welsh Liberal Democrats said the proposal closely mirrors that of the party in its Assembly election manifesto.

Welsh Conservative shadow education secretary Darren Millar welcomed the review, saying the party “has always believed support should be targeted at those who need it most to ensure that everyone can aspire to a university education, no matter what their background.”

The National Union of Students in Wales also backed the proposal.

“We have long been concerned that many students struggle to meet the basic cost of living,” said NUS Wales president Fflur Elin.