Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps are being taken to support those repaying (a) student loans and (b) student loans plus post-graduate loans in the context of the rising cost of living.

The student loan repayment system incorporates a number of protections for those making loan repayments. Repayments are calculated as a fixed percentage of earnings above the relevant repayment threshold (currently £27,295 for a post 2012 undergraduate plan and £21,000 for a post graduate loan) and do not change as a result of the interest rate charged or the amount borrowed. If a borrower’s income drops, so does the amount they repay. If income is below the relevant repayment threshold, or a borrower is not earning, then they do not have to make repayments at all. Any outstanding debt, including interest accrued, is written off after the loan term ends (or in case of death or disability) at no detriment to the borrower.

The Energy Price Guarantee announced on 8 September will save the average household at least £1,000 a year based on current energy prices from October and this is in addition to the £400 energy bills discount for all households.

As part of the package of support for rising energy bills, the government is also giving a council tax rebate payment of £150 to households that were living in a property in council tax bands A to D as their main home on 1 April 2022.