Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate her Department has made of the proportion of student loan borrowers who (a) have and (b) will have paid back more than their original student loan in England.

The department does not hold an estimate of the proportion of student loan borrowers who have repaid more than they originally borrowed in a form that would provide a meaningful answer to the question. Likewise, the department does not hold an estimate of the percentage of loan borrowers who will have paid back more than their original loan in the future.

The amount a borrower ultimately repays depends on factors including their earnings, the amount borrowed, their repayment plan and how long the loan remains outstanding. A borrower who has not yet repaid more than they borrowed may do so in future, while some borrowers will never repay their original loan amount.

Furthermore, comparing total cash repayments with the original amount borrowed does not account for inflation, meaning it does not show whether a borrower has repaid more than they borrowed in real terms.