Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Written Statement of 9 October 2017, on Student finance update, HCWS 145, what estimate her Department has made of changes to the Resource Accounting Budgetary Charge as a result of the changes on policy in that statement.

The current Government estimate of the Resource Accounting Budgetary charge, the proportion of loan outlay that we expect not to be repaid, was around 30%. Following the changes to the student finance system outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 9 October 2017, this will increase to 40-45%.

The cost of the system is a conscious investment in young people. It is the policy subsidy required to make higher education widely available, achieving the Government’s objectives of increasing the skills in the economy and ensuring access to university for all with the potential to benefit.