Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to ensure that students from other EU countries repay student loans taken out in the UK.

Borrowers from other EU countries who remain in the UK after completing their studies make repayments through the UK tax system in the usual way. The Student Loans Company (SLC) informs any borrower, regardless of nationality, going abroad of their obligations to repay and the methods of repayment available to them.

If a borrower who has moved abroad fails to meet their obligations to repay, the SLC will undertake a variety of actions to recover payments. These include the use of international trace services and debt collection agencies.

Collection across the EU is underpinned by EC regulation 44/2001, which allows the SLC to obtain judgments in UK Courts, which can be enforced by courts in other EU countries.