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Nearly 2,500 dance and drama students will benefit from a Pounds 17 million government-funded scholarship programme over the next three years. Higher and further education minister Baroness Blackstone said the initiative, starting next September, means cash awards for 820 students a year, an increase in average publicly-funded fee support from Pounds 4,800 a year to Pounds 6,000 and special help for people from low income families. Baroness Blackstone said that there will also be new high-level qualifications for dance and drama students amid evidence that some who complete courses do not receive recognised qualifications.