Angela Rayner has condemned the Government’s scrapping of student maintenance grants and said young people were being forced to “pick up the bill” for the failures of Theresa May’s Government.

The grants of roughly £3,500 were given to poorer students to support their living costs during university. They will now be replaced by loans, meaning poorer students will encounter greater levels of debt.

Rayner, Labour’s shadow education secretary, attacked the Tories for putting “limits on aspiration” on young people.

“The Tories are letting young people down. First they trebled tuition fees, now they’re scrapping the grants thousands of young people rely on, forcing them to pick up the bill for the failure of Theresa May’s government.”

“For young people the reality of the Tories is soaring levels of debt and limits on aspiration. Young people deserve better than this unfair Tory Government.”

Leadership challenger Owen Smith also condemned the move, pledging to protect young people’s opportunities to study.

“The Tories’ decision to scrap student maintenance grants was short-sighted and risks lumbering those from the poorest backgrounds with the highest levels of debt. For many students, these grants meant the difference between whether or not they could afford to go to university.

“Not content with attacking this group of students, the Tories are now going further with their plans to scrap student bursaries for nurses, midwives and other allied health professionals.

“I campaigned against the scrapping of these grants and if I’m elected Labour leader I’ll fight to ensure all young people have the opportunity and support to go to university.”

The Government announced the changes in 2015, which have come into effect today.

Student groups are furious and today Sorana Vieru, vice-president of the NUS, told the BBC: “It’s a disgraceful change that basically punishes poorer students simply for being poor, so they have to take a bigger loan than those students from privileged backgrounds.”

Earlier this year, the Conservatives announced plans to hold a vote on whether universities can raise fees about the current £9,000 a year limit in line with inflation. The move could see fees rise above £10,000 within 4 years.