Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of student loan repayments on recruitment and retention in NHS roles where a degree is mandatory.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This government is committed to training the staff we need to get patients seen on time, including more medical and clinical professionals and will work closely with partners in education to do so and ensure these professions remain attractive career choices.
We now have a complete apprentice pathway for nursing, from entry level to postgraduate advanced clinical practice. A person can join the NHS as an entry level healthcare assistant apprentice with a view to eventually qualifying as a registered nurse.
For those who do take out a student loan to support their studies, unlike commercial loans, student loan repayments are linked to income, not to the amount borrowed or interest applied. And at the end of the repayment term any outstanding loan debt, including interest accrued, will be cancelled with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
Students studying on eligible courses at English universities qualify for additional support through the NHS Learning Support Fund or NHS Bursary.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many undergraduate courses eligible for student loans have median graduate earnings below the repayment threshold five years after graduation.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Under the current Plan 5 student loan system, the repayment threshold is £25,000. Nationally, graduates across all subject areas have median earnings above this, five years after graduation, with the exception of Performing Arts graduates whose median earnings are £24,500.
More detail on courses at specific providers can be found in the department‘s published LEO provider level dashboard, which contains earnings outcomes at five years after graduation for each ‘provider x subject’ combination. This is available here: https://department-for-education.shinyapps.io/leo-provider-dashboard/
It should be noted that many of these combinations have outcomes suppressed due to low sample sizes, meaning it is not possible to produce a robust count of the total number of such courses.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to Answer of 2 February 2026 to Question 108145 on Graduates: Employment, how many higher education providers are currently at risk of regulatory intervention.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
As the independent regulator of higher education, the Office for Students makes independent decisions about regulatory interventions.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of the student loan interest rate on costs to the public purse.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Applying interest to the loans ensures that those who benefit financially from higher education (HE) contribute towards the cost of that HE. To ensure the real value of the loans over the repayment term, interest is linked to inflation. Interest increases the face value of the student loan book, but the impact on the fair value depends on complex assumptions about lifetime repayments.
In cashflow terms, neither outlay nor repayments are affected by a higher interest rate in the short term. Only when borrowers approach the end of their repayments would there be an increase in repayments through additional interest leading to extended repayment periods up to the maximum of 30 years for Plan 2 and 40 years for Plan 5 loans.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the proportion of the total value of Plan 2 student loans issued since 2012 that will be written off.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold an estimate of the proportion of total Plan 2 outlay since 2012 that will be written off. We forecast subsidy portions for outlay for current and future financial years.
We estimate a resource accounting and budget (RAB) charge of 34% for Plan 2 loan outlay issued in the 2025/26 academic year to English domiciled borrowers. The RAB charge represents the subsidy portion of loan outlay as recorded in departmental accounts.
Outstanding debt, including interest accrued, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants. There are no commercial loans that offer this level of borrower protection. This cancellation/subsidy is a conscious investment in our young people and the skills capacity, people and economy of this country.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the long-term career progression of graduates who are not in high-skilled employment 15 months after graduation.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The latest higher education (HE) Statistics Agency data shows that 71.4% of UK-domiciled graduates from 2022/23 in employment were in high-skilled roles 15 months after graduation.
Latest ‘Graduate Labour Market Statistics’ data show that in 2024, 79.0% of working age postgraduates and 67.9% of graduates were in high-skilled employment, an increase compared to 2023.
Further, research suggests that the majority of graduates are expected to earn a positive financial return from HE over their lifetime. Whilst employment rates for graduates remain higher than for non-graduates, we recognise that those leaving HE face challenges and are taking steps to ensure graduates are ready for work.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of funding undergraduate courses that do not lead to sustained graduate-level employment.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
All first-degree subjects typically lead to high rates of sustained employment, with Longitudinal Education Outcomes data showing that the proportion of graduates in “sustained employment with or without further study” five years after graduation ranges from 77.4% to 92.2% across subjects (in the latest available data, i.e. the 2022/23 tax year). This compares to a 68.0% employment rate among working-age non-graduates (in the latest Graduate Labour Market Statistics release, i.e. for 2024).
Current administrative data does not provide a breakdown of outcomes by whether employment is at graduate-level. Similarly, evidence is not available on the breakdown of government costs of student finance at course or subject level.
Courses with specific quality concerns related to graduate outcomes are addressed through the Office for Students quality regime.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of student loan repayments on graduates’ ability to meet basic living costs in South Basildon and East Thurrock constituency.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department does not hold data specific to South Basildon and East Thurrock.
Unlike commercial loans, student loan repayments are linked to income, not to the amount borrowed or interest applied. Borrowers only start repaying their student loan once earnings exceed the threshold, after which they repay at a rate of 9% of income above the repayment threshold, meaning low earning borrowers are protected. For example, a borrower earning £27,000 who started their course in academic year 2025/26 will repay £15 per month.
If their income drops, so do the repayments they make towards their student loan. And at the end of the repayment term any outstanding loan debt, including interest accrued, will be cancelled with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure schools tackle gender-specific online harm.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The updated relationships, sex and health education guidance ensures that, from September 2026, schools will address gender‑based online harms including from pornography, deepfakes, sextortion and misogynistic content. It places new emphasis on challenging misogyny and supporting pupils to recognise and report harmful behaviours and to understand the impact of harmful online influencers.
In December 2025, the government published a new strategy to tackle violence against women and girls. We want to protect young people and drive forward education on healthy relationships. We will invest £11 million to pilot the best interventions in schools over the next three years.
‘Keeping children safe in education’, the statutory safeguarding guidance which schools must have regard to, has been strengthened significantly in recent years to reflect evolving online risks. Online safety is embedded throughout, making clear the importance of ensuring a whole school approach to keeping children safe both online and offline.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of male underrepresentation in the teaching workforce in primary schools on the attainment gap between boys and girls.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
As my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Education has said, the department wants to see more male teachers teaching, guiding and leading the boys in their classrooms.
Men are underrepresented across the education workforce. This is broadly in line with international trends and has remained stable over time in England
Recruiting and retaining expert teachers is critical to the government’s mission to break down the barriers to opportunity for every child, as high-quality teaching is the in-school factor that has the biggest positive impact on a child’s outcomes.
We ensure men are featured regularly in our recruitment marketing campaign “Every Lesson Shapes a Life”, with men in the focal role in our last two major TV campaigns.
Whilst the department does not have evidence to draw a direct link between gender of teachers and pupil outcomes, we are clear that schools should be an environment where all children feel a genuine sense of belonging.