Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government what percentage of graduates have not reached the salary level to start repaying their student loan.

The exact information is not readily available or held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost. The department can provide the following information, which was published on 15 June 2023, in the Student Loans in England (for financial year 2022/23) publication available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loans-in-england-2022-to-2023/student-loans-in-england-financial-year-2022-23.

The figures below classify borrowers with income contingent loans by their known status as of 30 April 2023. Until their loan balance is fully repaid or cancelled, borrowers can move into and out of any of the statuses.

As of 30 April 2023, of those who reached their repayment date between financial years 2000/01 to and including 2021/22, with at least one tax year processed, 18.8% are UK residents in live employment and not required to pay and 1.2% are residents outside of the UK and have not reached the repayment threshold for that country.

From those remaining, 25.3% have fully paid off their loans and 41.9% are repaying. A further 0.8% and 2.1% are currently in the UK tax system and marked as currently having no live employment at HMRC for fewer than 90 days or 90 days or longer, respectively, and 0.4% are awaiting first year tax return to determine if they earn above the threshold. A further 7% are known to be in the UK but not in the UK tax system and their status does not require repayment at this point. A further 1.5% reside outside of the UK and either have no details of income or are not currently repaying and their repayment status is being sought. Finally, 1% are not resident in the UK and have defaulted in arrears. This information is available via the attachment.

The figures included can be found in Table 3A(i)(ii) of the release is available via the attachment.