Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he plans for a sharia-compliant alternative student finance system to be in place for applications for the 2019-2020 academic year.
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.