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18 January 2011
Last updated at 21:26 ET
MPs are to vote on a Labour call for a rethink of the government's decision to scrap the Education Maintenance Allowance for low-income students.
The government says the allowances of up to £30 a week for students in England aged 16 to 19 are wasteful.
Labour has appealed to Liberal Democrat MPs to back the motion, but a major rebellion is thought unlikely.
Students are planning a second day of action over the issue, after protests around England on Tuesday.
A rally is scheduled in central London, and a group of students will hold classes in a room in the houses of parliament in protest against the decision.
On Tuesday, students held lunchtime demonstrations on at least 30 school and college campuses, the University and College Union said.
Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) were introduced by Labour to encourage young people from deprived backgrounds to stay in education and training after the age of 16.
Students whose parents' earnings fall below certain thresholds receive payments of £10, £20 or £30 a week.
These can be spent however the student chooses, but are intended to cover the cost of course equipment, books and transport.
Campaigners say many students will drop out of courses, and others will not be able to afford to start them, if the allowance is cut as planned.
But the government says the £560m scheme is expensive, citing research that suggests 90% of EMA recipients would continue in education without the allowance.
Ministers want to replace it with "more targeted" support for the poorest young people.
'Damaging impact' Labour, however, argues in its motion that EMA gives the poorest young people the choice of going to the best colleges in their area, by helping with transport costs.
The party says it raises grades by preventing students from having to do part-time work to fund their study costs.
Speaking on BBC television, shadow education secretary Andrew Burnham accused the Conservatives of breaking a pre-election promise, given that Prime Minister David Cameron had said he had no plans to scrap EMA.
He said cutting the allowance could be costly for the state: "If you pull the rug from under [low-income students], the state will have to pick them up in a different way - it might end with them on the benefit system. Where's the sense in that?"
The Conservative chairman of the Education Select Committee, Graham Stuart, said cutting EMA would have some "some damaging impact".
But he said that savings had to be made because of the national deficit.
"Nearly half of all 16-17-year-olds are in receipt of EMA - do nearly half of all young people need to be paid by the government to go to school or college? I don't think so," he told the BBC.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes was involved in drafting the motion, but his office said he had not yet decided whether to back it.
Research by the University and College Union, published on Tuesday, suggested that 70% of students in the poorest areas would drop out of college if their EMA was stopped.
UCU polled more than 700 students, in the 30 colleges and schools with the highest proportion of students receiving EMA in England.
Some 38% of those polled said they would not have started their courses without EMA, while 63% said they received no financial support from their family for college costs.
The government says it now plans to support the most needy students through a discretionary fund administered by colleges, which it has said it hopes to triple from its current level of £26m.
The government also points out that local authorities have a statutory obligation to make sure that transport is not a barrier to students' education.
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The government says the allowances of up to £30 a week for students in England aged 16 to 19 are wasteful.
Labour has appealed to Liberal Democrat MPs to back the motion, but a major rebellion is thought unlikely.
Students are planning a second day of action over the issue, after protests around England on Tuesday.
A rally is scheduled in central London, and a group of students will hold classes in a room in the houses of parliament in protest against the decision.
On Tuesday, students held lunchtime demonstrations on at least 30 school and college campuses, the University and College Union said.
Education Maintenance Allowances (EMAs) were introduced by Labour to encourage young people from deprived backgrounds to stay in education and training after the age of 16.
Students whose parents' earnings fall below certain thresholds receive payments of £10, £20 or £30 a week.
These can be spent however the student chooses, but are intended to cover the cost of course equipment, books and transport.
Campaigners say many students will drop out of courses, and others will not be able to afford to start them, if the allowance is cut as planned.
But the government says the £560m scheme is expensive, citing research that suggests 90% of EMA recipients would continue in education without the allowance.
Ministers want to replace it with "more targeted" support for the poorest young people.
'Damaging impact' Labour, however, argues in its motion that EMA gives the poorest young people the choice of going to the best colleges in their area, by helping with transport costs.
The party says it raises grades by preventing students from having to do part-time work to fund their study costs.
Speaking on BBC television, shadow education secretary Andrew Burnham accused the Conservatives of breaking a pre-election promise, given that Prime Minister David Cameron had said he had no plans to scrap EMA.
He said cutting the allowance could be costly for the state: "If you pull the rug from under [low-income students], the state will have to pick them up in a different way - it might end with them on the benefit system. Where's the sense in that?"
The Conservative chairman of the Education Select Committee, Graham Stuart, said cutting EMA would have some "some damaging impact".
But he said that savings had to be made because of the national deficit.
"Nearly half of all 16-17-year-olds are in receipt of EMA - do nearly half of all young people need to be paid by the government to go to school or college? I don't think so," he told the BBC.
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Simon Hughes was involved in drafting the motion, but his office said he had not yet decided whether to back it.
Research by the University and College Union, published on Tuesday, suggested that 70% of students in the poorest areas would drop out of college if their EMA was stopped.
UCU polled more than 700 students, in the 30 colleges and schools with the highest proportion of students receiving EMA in England.
Some 38% of those polled said they would not have started their courses without EMA, while 63% said they received no financial support from their family for college costs.
The government says it now plans to support the most needy students through a discretionary fund administered by colleges, which it has said it hopes to triple from its current level of £26m.
The government also points out that local authorities have a statutory obligation to make sure that transport is not a barrier to students' education.
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