Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress the Government has made on providing a sharia-compliant alternative student finance system.

I refer the hon. member for West Ham, to the letter I sent to Lord Sharkey on 24 July 2018, updating him on the progress we have made and the current position on Alternative Student Finance (ASF), a copy of which in available in the Libraries of both Houses.

As set out in that letter, the government intends to provide further details on the implementation of ASF following the publication of the final report of the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding in early 2019.