His own Oxford debt bailout . . .

THE universities minister yesterday claimed he could have been thrown out of Oxford because he was unable to pay his rent.

Sam Gyimah said he was able to complete his degree only after his college converted the debt into a loan, which he paid back after he left. He was speaking to MPs on the education committee who pressed him on whether providing support for disadvantaged youngsters.

Mr Gyimah, a comprehensive pupil who studied at Somerville College, Oxford, gave as an example how he had depended on a bailout.

‘I would have been thrown out of university because I couldn’t afford my rent,’ he said. ‘The only way I managed to survive and carry on was because the college converted my rent into a loan, which I paid when I left.

‘A personal anecdote is never the best foundation for policy – but I can describe my own experience as the first kind of maintenance loan.’