Five youth and student organisations have written to education minister Jet Bussemaker urging her to bring back basic grants for all students.

Earlier this week, education ministry figures showed there had been a 7% drop in the number of students starting a degree this year and that children from more disadvantaged backgrounds were increasingly turning their back on studying.

The organisations say the government must take ‘concrete steps’ to ensure continued equality in access to education. These include bringing back the basic grant for all students, increasing the basic grant for the very poorest and stopping selection for some courses.

Student grants were scrapped in September 2015 for all new students. Students whose parents earn less than €46,000 between them are still eligible for some financial help which they do have to pay back if they drop out.