Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to table 1.9 of Autumn Budget 2017, what estimate he has made of level of Resource Accounting and Budgeting required for undergraduate part-time student loans as a result of the rise in tuition fees to £9250 and the proposed changes to the student loan repayment threshold.

The Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) charge for fee loans for part-time higher education undergraduate students in 2017/18 is estimated to be around 40%, following the decisions to increase the repayment threshold for post-2012 student loans to £25,000 from April 2018 and to freeze tuition fees in the 2018/19 academic year at the same level as in 2017/18.

The government subsidy, represented by the RAB charge, is a conscious investment in young people and the long-term skills capacity of the economy.