EDUCATION grants, abolished in England over a decade ago by the Tory-led coalition government, are to be extended to more students in Wales.

The education maintenance allowance (EMA), which gives students aged 16 to 18 a weekly allowance for transport, meals and other costs, was axed in 2011 — in a blatant breach of a Lib-Dem election pledge.

The devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland continued to pay the weekly grants.