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 the long-term annual cost to the taxpayer of those policy changes in that statement.

The long-term cost of the student loan system is reflected in the Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) Charge, which estimates the proportion of loan outlay (by value) that is not expected to be repaid. The RAB charge was estimated to be around 30%.

Following the changes to the student finance system outlined in the Written Ministerial Statement of 9 October 2017, this is expected to 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.