Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the student finance means-testing system on families with multiple children attending higher education at the same time; and whether she plans to review how maintenance support is calculated in such circumstances.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government considers the current household income assessment the fairest and most consistent way to target living cost support at undergraduate students whose families are least able to support them.
For the 2026/27 academic year, when two or more students in the same family are in higher education (HE), the student finance system takes this into account when calculating maintenance support.
Under the current split contributions policy, where household income exceeds £42,875, the same household contribution is shared across those students, rather than being applied separately. Some households supporting more than one student in HE can therefore receive more maintenance support than a household on the same income supporting only one student.
Under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, split contributions will not apply to eligible new students starting courses or modules on or after 1 January 2027. Removing split contributions will therefore create a more consistent and streamlined approach to maintenance support across all students, regardless of household income, study intensity or mode of study.
Maintenance support will continue to be based on household income, with the highest levels of support targeted at students from the lowest-income households. Eligible students will also continue to be able to access other forms of student support, subject to meeting the relevant eligibility criteria.
The government will continue to keep the student finance system under review to ensure it remains fair, sustainable and focused on those with the greatest financial need.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of exempting Chevening Scholars from the visa brakes for student visa applicants from Cameroon, Afghanistan, Sudan and Myanmar.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government places significant value on Chevening. However, although the terms and conditions of the Chevening Scholarship require scholars to return home for at least two years following the completion of courses, there is evidence of asylum claims made by Chevening scholars from each of the affected nationalities in recent years. Given the continued asylum risk, the Government would consider it unfair to that introduce exceptions from the visa brakes for Chevening scholars of these nationalities, and we have no current plans to do so.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of reducing the review period of visa brakes for student visa applicants from Cameroon, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Myanmar from 18 months to 12 months.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The visa brake for Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan will be reviewed by the Home Office 18 months after imposition to enable a full consideration of the impact the visa brake has had on the number of asylum claims emanating from affected cohorts against broader asylum trends.
The brake will only be lifted once the government assesses it appropriate to do so and it is clear that there has been a reduction in the risk of high proportions of visa-linked asylum claims recommencing on these routes from these nationalities.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, which metrics and thresholds will be used when reviewing the visa brakes introduced for student visa applicants from Cameroon, Afghanistan, Sudan, and Myanmar.
Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The visa brake for Afghanistan, Cameroon, Myanmar and Sudan will be reviewed by the Home Office 18 months after imposition to enable a full consideration of the impact the visa brake has had on the number of asylum claims emanating from affected cohorts against broader asylum trends.
The brake will only be lifted once the government assesses it appropriate to do so and it is clear that there has been a reduction in the risk of high proportions of visa-linked asylum claims recommencing on these routes from these nationalities.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the level of barriers faced by estranged students when accessing student finance; and whether she will take steps to simplify the application process and evidential requirements for those students.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises that estranged students suffer from financial barriers to study, are more likely to suffer negative effects from high cost of living, work more paid hours whilst studying compared with other student groups and have higher rates of course withdrawal.
Students who are estranged from their parents are treated as independent students, which means their entitlement to loans for living costs is based on their own household income rather than that of their parents.
This means that most estranged students will qualify for the maximum loans for living costs, which are increasing in line with forecast inflation every academic year from 2026/27 onwards.
From the 2028/29 service year, we are reintroducing maintenance grants of up to £1,000 per year for full-time students from low-income households, such as estranged students who are studying courses aligned with the government's missions and Industrial Strategy.
Evidence of estrangement is needed to ensure that students receive their correct entitlement to student support. Students can either submit a Confirmation of Estrangement Form or a supporting statement to Student Finance England, both of which must be completed by an independent third party with good standing in the community.
The step-by-step application process for estranged students, together with a link to the Confirmation of Estrangement Form, is set out in detail on GOV.UK and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/applying-for-student-finance-as-an-estranged-student/applying-for-student-finance-as-an-estranged-student. The government reviews guidance and the application processes on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish a response to the consultation entitled Identification of victims of modern slavery, which closed 9 October 2025.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
The Government published a summary of responses to the Call for Evidence on the Identification of Victims of Modern Slavery in February 2026, fulfilling the commitment made when the Call for Evidence was launched. This was announced by a Written Ministerial Statement which can be viewed on the UK Parliament website: Written statements - Written questions, answers and statements - UK Parliament
The Call for Evidence ran from 16 July to 9 October 2025 and sought views on the definitions of a victim of modern slavery and the identification and decision-making processes within the National Referral Mechanism.
The Home Office received 119 responses from those with an interest and experience in modern slavery, including people with lived experience of modern slavery, NGOs and civil society organisations, local authorities, academics, law enforcement, first responders, parliamentarians, and members of the public.
The summary of responses can be viewed on GOV.UK at: https://www.gov.uk/government/calls-for-evidence/identification-of-victims-of-modern-slavery/outcome/identification-of-victims-of-modern-slavery-call-for-evidence-summary-of-responses.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, when his Department intends to publish its response to the consultation on Fireworks and pyrotechnics in the UK; and whether he plans to bring forward legislation in light of the consultation's findings.
Answered by Kate Dearden - Minister of State (Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade)
The Government is currently reviewing responses to the consultation which closed on 7 October 2026 and will publish the Government response in due course. The consultation sought views on targeted reforms to fireworks and pyrotechnics legislation. Over 140,000 responses were received. The evidence provided by members of the public, businesses, charities, enforcement bodies and other stakeholders is being carefully considered and will inform decisions on whether legislative changes are required.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact on students and graduates of using the Retail Prices Index (RPI) in student finance calculations; and whether she will consider adopting the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), which is generally lower than RPI, to better reflect inflation pressures faced by students.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Decisions on student loan repayment arrangements must be considered alongside wider fiscal priorities, the long-term sustainability of the higher education (HE) funding system and value for money for taxpayers. The department has already taken decisive action against inflationary pressures by capping the maximum interest rates on Plan 2 and Plan 3 loans at 6% for the 2026/27 academic year, protecting borrowers from inflation shocks.
The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that it will bring the methods and data sources used to calculate the Consumer Prices Index, including owner occupiers' housing costs, into the Retail Prices Index from February 2030. The government will continue to consider the appropriate treatment of inflation measures within the student finance system as part of its ongoing consideration of HE funding and student support arrangements.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has assessed whether the use of parental income to determine eligibility for student maintenance support remains fair and fit for purpose; and whether she plans to review those arrangements to ensure that students receive adequate support regardless of their parents’ ability to contribute to their living costs.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government considers the current household income assessment for living costs support to be the fairest and most consistent way of targeting support towards undergraduate students whose families have the least capacity to support them.
To help students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds progress and succeed in higher education, we have future-proofed our living costs loan offer by committing to increase them in line with forecast inflation each academic year from the 2026/27.
This will ensure that students from the lowest income families receive the largest year-on-year cash increases in support and provide students with greater long-term financial certainty about the financial support available while they study.
Maximum loans for living costs have been increased by 2.71% for the 2026/27 academic year.
We will continue to keep the student finance system under review to ensure that it remains fair and financially sustainable.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the International Student Levy Government technical consultation response, which fields of the Jisc Student Record will be used to determine which students a higher education institution will be eligible to pay the levy for.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Higher education (HE) providers will pay the levy for their registered international students annually from the 2028/29 academic year. We expect students to be deemed international by not being eligible for home fees (Jisc field FEELIG=2) or, where this is not assessed, by having a non-UK permanent address (Jisc field PERMADDCOUNTRY).
The International Student Levy consultation response provides further detail, with Jisc Student Record coverage explained on the Higher Education Statistics Agency website. International students on HE courses at further education colleges will be identified using the Individualised Learner Record.
Full draft guidance on the levy calculation and data fields used will be shared with providers ahead of trial calculations. The Office for Students intends to test this in summer 2027 and share indicative outcomes with providers in February 2028.