Asked by: Alex Brewer (Liberal Democrat - North East Hampshire)
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 the Plan 2 student loan system on graduates whose repayments do not cover the interest added to their balance.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Plan 2 student loans were designed and implemented by previous governments and students in England starting degrees under this government have different arrangements.
Plan 2 loans interest rates are applied at the Retail Price Index (RPI) only, then variable up to RPI +3% depending on earnings. Interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by student loan borrowers, which stay at a constant rate of 9% above an earnings threshold to protect lower earners.
Any outstanding loan and interest written off at the end of the loan term, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
Asked by: Mike Wood (Conservative - Kingswinford and South Staffordshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 13 January 2026, to Question 101069, on Erasmus+ Programme, what is the estimated ratio of the number of UK students who will visit the European Union, and the number of EU students who will visit the UK, in the first year of the programme.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
In 2018/19, there were approximately 31,000 inbound higher education (HE) student mobilities via the Erasmus+ Programme. There were approximately 16,000 outbound HE student mobilities in the same year.
The department expects there will be a greater number of HE mobilities on reassociation, given the expansion of the programme.
Asked by: Jim Dickson (Labour - Dartford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many and what proportion of school leavers have progressed to (a) employment and (b) economic inactivity by type of establishment in each year since September 2020.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department publishes information on the destinations of students after key stage 4 and 16 to 18 study. This includes whether a student sustained an education, employment or apprenticeship destination. The data also includes the number of students who did not sustain a destination or where no activity was captured.
To be counted in a destination, young people must have sustained participation for a six-month period in the destination year.
Data on the destinations of students who have completed key stage 4 is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/40d1474a-30ff-402a-f7ee-08de834d471d.
Data on the destinations of students who have completed 16 to 18 study is available at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/5d0582dc-7327-42f2-ab5e-08de834ce335.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the financial impact of maternity leave on the (a) amount of additional debt accrued on and (b) length of time to repay the debt for student finance loans.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department and the Student Loan Company do not hold information on the amount of additional money accrued by women while on maternity leave.
Student loan repayments are linked to income, not to the amount borrowed or interest applied. Repayments are made at a constant rate of 9% above the earnings threshold. Borrowers earning under the repayment threshold, including while on statutory maternity leave, are not required to make repayments, however, interest will continue to accrue. When borrowers are on maternity leave, and earnings are below the earnings threshold, interest, across both plan 2 and plan 5, is applied at the Retail Price Index only.
Any outstanding loan, including interest built up, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
The department will release an equalities impact assessment, including the impact on lifetime repayments, alongside other borrower impacts for the plan 2 repayment threshold and interest threshold freeze announced at the 2025 Budget.
Asked by: Ruth Cadbury (Labour - Brentford and Isleworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what data the Student Loans Company holds on the amount of additional money accrued by women while on maternity leave.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The department and the Student Loan Company do not hold information on the amount of additional money accrued by women while on maternity leave.
Student loan repayments are linked to income, not to the amount borrowed or interest applied. Repayments are made at a constant rate of 9% above the earnings threshold. Borrowers earning under the repayment threshold, including while on statutory maternity leave, are not required to make repayments, however, interest will continue to accrue. When borrowers are on maternity leave, and earnings are below the earnings threshold, interest, across both plan 2 and plan 5, is applied at the Retail Price Index only.
Any outstanding loan, including interest built up, is cancelled at the end of the loan term with no detriment to the borrower, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
The department will release an equalities impact assessment, including the impact on lifetime repayments, alongside other borrower impacts for the plan 2 repayment threshold and interest threshold freeze announced at the 2025 Budget.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Students given stronger protections against extremism on campus, published on 8 March 2026, whether the updated guidance includes safeguards to protect free speech.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The updated guidance will include safeguards to protect freedom of speech within the law and will clearly signpost higher education providers to the Office for Students’ guidance related to freedom of speech here: https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/publications/regulatory-advice-24-guidance-related-to-freedom-of-speech/. Further guidance will be issued in the Spring on Managing External Speakers and Events to ensure providers can meet their Prevent duty obligations while upholding freedom of speech.
Asked by: James McMurdock (Independent - South Basildon and East Thurrock)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to her Department’s press release entitled Students given stronger protections against extremism on campus, published on 8 March 2026, whether any additional resources will be allocated to the Office for Students to help monitor universities.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Office for Students will strengthen its monitoring activity by reprioritising its existing resources.
Asked by: Andrew Ranger (Labour - Wrexham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to reduce the time taken to issue Remediable Service Statements to members of the Teachers’ Pensions Scheme following the McCloud judgment.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer my hon. Friend the Member for Wrexham to the answer of 20 March 2026 to Question 112455.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions she had with Cabinet colleagues prior to the recent decision concerning Sudanese student visas.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The new International Education Strategy has confirmed this government's continued commitment to welcome international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK.
The government recognises the significant economic and cultural contribution that all international students make to the UK’s higher education sector.
We must, however, retain a robust immigration system which safeguards against exploitation. The government is therefore introducing targeted measures to help protect the integrity of the system, which may apply to study visas. These measures will apply where evidence shows a consistently high number and proportion of visa-linked asylum claims. Once in place, applications from the specified nationalities on the affected routes will be refused.
The government announced on 4 March that these measures would be imposed on nationals of four countries, including Sudan. This means that Sudanese nationals will not be awarded a study visa until the measures are lifted.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the contribution of Sudanese students on Higher Education.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The new International Education Strategy has confirmed this government's continued commitment to welcome international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK.
The government recognises the significant economic and cultural contribution that all international students make to the UK’s higher education sector.
We must, however, retain a robust immigration system which safeguards against exploitation. The government is therefore introducing targeted measures to help protect the integrity of the system, which may apply to study visas. These measures will apply where evidence shows a consistently high number and proportion of visa-linked asylum claims. Once in place, applications from the specified nationalities on the affected routes will be refused.
The government announced on 4 March that these measures would be imposed on nationals of four countries, including Sudan. This means that Sudanese nationals will not be awarded a study visa until the measures are lifted.