Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made an estimate of the potential cost to the public purse of reducing Plan 2 interest during PhD funded research.

Post-study, the interest on Plan 2 loans ranges from RPI to RPI+3% depending on a borrower’s earnings. For borrowers who are successful in gaining a funded doctoral research position it is likely that their funding will be below the lower interest threshold, meaning that the applicable interest rate is RPI only.

No estimate has been made relating to the cost to the public purse of reducing interest on Plan 2 loans during PhD funded research.