Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of Plan 2 interest accumulation on funded doctoral researchers.

Post-study, the interest on Plan 2 loans ranges from Retail Price Index (RPI) to RPI plus 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.

It is also likely that such borrowers will be earning under the repayment threshold, meaning that they are not required to make any repayments to their Plan 2 loan while undertaking their doctoral research.