AT least 80,000 undergraduates from middle-income families could lose out financially because of government bungling of the student grant system, a new analysis has found.

This is twice the number admitted by John Denham, the universities secretary, last week when he told parliament that miscalculations by his department had led to a £200m black hole in its budget.

An estimated 45,000 students starting degrees next year will have their grant payments cut by about £500 each, according to the calculations by the Conservative party.

Those are in addition to the 35,000 to 40,000 students who will be paid nothing at all, the figure announced by Denham.

“Times are tough for middle-income families and our figures show the government is making things even tougher for them,” said David Willetts, shadow universities secretary.

“When their policy comes apart at the seams because they can’t afford it, they don’t even tell us how people are affected.”

Wes Streeting, president of the National Union of Students, said the cuts would “cause disruption and added stress to those who are already suffering from the effects of the economic crisis”.

The fiasco has been blamed on the hasty creation of Denham’s department last year and a steep increase in grants announced during Gordon Brown’s first few days as prime minister.

The shortfall arose because the government predicted a third of students would qualify for a full grant as their families earn £25,000 or less. In the event, 40% were eligible.

Thousands of students have submitted applications to start university next year and many of them thought they would be eligible for higher grants.

Those affected include Katie Hudson, 17, a pupil at Claires Court, an independent day school in Maidenhead, Berkshire. She assumed she would receive a grant to help her study physical education at St Mary’s University College in Twickenham, west London next year.

However, her parents Kevin and Moira, who own a greengrocery, earn about £55,000 a year and fear she will not qualify.

Katie said: “My parents are going to have to give me money so I can afford rent, food and basic things to survive as a student. The loan is too expensive for me to make the repayments when I graduate.”

For the first time this year, new students whose families earn up to £60,005 a year were entitled to receive at least part of the maintenance grant of £2,835. Because of Denham’s shortfall, however, this threshold will be cut to £50,020 for next year.

Those earning £40,000 to £50,000 will be paid sharply reduced grants with extra loans. Only those eligible for a full grant will be unaffected.

To save more cash, Denham has cut the number of new university places on offer next year from 15,000 to 10,000. The emergency cuts will fill only half the £200m shortfall, with the rest from “efficiency savings”.

The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills said details of these savings had yet to be worked out. It said: “The government is committed to growing student numbers and ensuring finance is no barrier to university . . . We have exceeded our expectations and so have decided to adjust the eligibility thresholds.”

Additional reporting: Brendan Montague

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