Asked by: Luke Evans (Conservative - Hinckley and Bosworth)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what is the evidential basis for her view that graduates will pay back £8 more a month on average due to the freezing of the repayment threshold for student loans.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Monthly repayments for a borrower earning above the repayment threshold in a scenario with no threshold freeze was calculated as £8 lower in the 2027/28 financial year compared to the repayments of the same borrower in a scenario with a freeze. This is calculated as 9% (the repayment rate) of the difference between the frozen threshold and the non-frozen threshold. This figure was based on Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) inflation forecasts from the 2025 Spring Statement.
Following updated OBR economic forecasts released on 3 March 2026 as part of the Spring Statement, this figure has been recalculated and remains £8.
For borrowers earning less than the threshold calculated without a freeze, the increased repayments compared to the freeze scenario will be less than £8, and borrowers earning below the frozen threshold will continue to repay nothing.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many higher education institutions have sought to withdraw staff from the Teachers’ Pension Scheme in each of the past four quarters.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises that the financial environment of the higher education (HE) sector is challenging for both providers and for their staff. We are aware that some providers are making difficult decisions around staffing in order to safeguard their financial sustainability, including in relation to pension arrangements.
As providers are independent, the government does not routinely collect information regarding pay and workforce matters in HE. However, we remain committed to engaging with both HE unions and the employer body to better understand the issues affecting the sector, including the workforce.
Furthermore, we appreciate both the impact of the increased Teachers’ Pension Scheme employer contribution rate on providers and that defined benefit pensions are highly valued by staff across the sector. As set out in the Post-16 Education and Skills White Paper, the government is therefore seeking to better understand concerns within the post-1992 HE sector regarding pension provision.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps the Department will take to ensure the Erasmus+ programme reaches less advantaged young people who are in further education or apprenticeships.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This iteration of Erasmus+ has a strong focus on inclusion, with diversity and inclusion set as a core priority. The UK’s association will support this commitment, continuing the ambition set by the Turing Scheme to prioritise mobilities involving participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The EU allocates dedicated budgets to support ‘people with fewer opportunities’ to take part in mobility activities, including those facing financial, social or health-related barriers. Grant rates are set out in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide for each year of the programme.
The department is working closely with all relevant sectors to maximise take up, particularly among disadvantaged groups. A UK National Agency will be appointed to administer the programme, with a dedicated website and guidance issued well-ahead of the 2027 funding call. Alongside this, there will also be a broad range of sector outreach activities to increase awareness and engagement, such as webinars and targeted communications to eligible organisations.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what specific mechanisms within Erasmus+ will be used to prioritise learners from disadvantaged backgrounds in a manner similar to the Turing Scheme.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This iteration of Erasmus+ has a strong focus on inclusion, with diversity and inclusion set as a core priority. The UK’s association will support this commitment, continuing the ambition set by the Turing Scheme to prioritise mobilities involving participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The EU allocates dedicated budgets to support ‘people with fewer opportunities’ to take part in mobility activities, including those facing financial, social or health-related barriers. Grant rates are set out in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide for each year of the programme.
The department is working closely with all relevant sectors to maximise take up, particularly among disadvantaged groups. A UK National Agency will be appointed to administer the programme, with a dedicated website and guidance issued well-ahead of the 2027 funding call. Alongside this, there will also be a broad range of sector outreach activities to increase awareness and engagement, such as webinars and targeted communications to eligible organisations.
Asked by: Ben Coleman (Labour - Chelsea and Fulham)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether grant levels for students from low-income households under Erasmus+ will be comparable to those of the Turing Scheme.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
This iteration of Erasmus+ has a strong focus on inclusion, with diversity and inclusion set as a core priority. The UK’s association will support this commitment, continuing the ambition set by the Turing Scheme to prioritise mobilities involving participants from disadvantaged backgrounds.
The EU allocates dedicated budgets to support ‘people with fewer opportunities’ to take part in mobility activities, including those facing financial, social or health-related barriers. Grant rates are set out in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide for each year of the programme.
The department is working closely with all relevant sectors to maximise take up, particularly among disadvantaged groups. A UK National Agency will be appointed to administer the programme, with a dedicated website and guidance issued well-ahead of the 2027 funding call. Alongside this, there will also be a broad range of sector outreach activities to increase awareness and engagement, such as webinars and targeted communications to eligible organisations.
Asked by: Anna Dixon (Labour - Shipley)
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 including maintenance loans as part of a student loan on students from lower income backgrounds.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We have future-proofed our maintenance offer by confirming that we will increase maintenance loans in line with forecast inflation every academic year. This will provide students with long-term financial certainty on the support they will receive while studying and ensure that students from the lowest income families receive the largest year-on-year cash increases in support. Maximum loans for living costs for undergraduate students will increase by 2.71% for the 2026/27 academic year.
From 2028/29, maintenance grants will support full-time students from low-income households studying courses aligned with the government’s missions. The grants will provide disadvantaged full-time students with up to £1,000 extra per year on top of existing maintenance loans, increasing cash for students without increasing their debt.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department plans to provide additional funding to colleges for staff pay.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Further education (FE) colleges, rather than government, are responsible for setting and negotiating staff pay and terms and conditions within colleges.
In May 2025, the department announced a further £190 million investment for colleges and other 16 to 19 providers, in addition to the £400 million of extra funding we already planned to spend on 16 to 19 education in the 2025/26 financial year.
In October 2025, the department announced plans to go further in the 2026/27 financial year. From the Spending Review settlement, we will invest nearly £800 million extra on top of the original £400 million announced in 2025/26.
This significant investment will support the recruitment and retention of expert teachers in high value subject areas, and interventions to retain top teaching talent.
Targeted Recruitment Incentives of up to £6,000 (after tax) are available for eligible early career FE teachers working in key science, technology, engineering and maths and technical shortage subjects, in colleges, including in sixth form colleges. This is separate to teacher salaries.
Asked by: Elsie Blundell (Labour - Heywood and Middleton North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure schools are promoting reading as a substitute to social media use.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
We know that reading for pleasure is hugely important and brings a range of benefits. However, we also know that just one in three children aged 8 to 18 read in their free time, and a recent Omnibus Survey by the department found that 31% of parents of primary-aged children and 40% of parents of secondary-aged children said their child prefers spending time online or playing video games, citing this as a barrier to encouraging reading in their free time.
We have launched the National Year of Reading 2026, in collaboration with the National Literacy Trust, to address long-term declines in reading enjoyment through engaging new audiences, reshaping public attitudes and building the systems needed to embed lasting, meaningful change.
The National Year of Reading encourages everyone to see how reading, in all forms, can unlock more of our existing passions and interests, from reading a story in a print book or on an e-reader, to reading a magazine article or an online blog, to listening to an audio book on a phone or tablet. With this in mind, digital technology is not incompatible with the National Year of Reading.
The national rollout of Best Start Family Hubs is underpinned by £500 million of government investment to help families in every part of the country. This includes increased investment in home learning and parenting support in the early years, enhancing support for families through integrated advice, targeted outreach and partnerships to empower more parents and carers to chat, play, and read with their children every day to nurture early reading skills and language development from birth.
This government is also providing £5 million of funding for secondary schools to purchase books to encourage reading for pleasure, as well as committing over £10 million in funding to guarantee a library for every primary school by the end of this Parliament.
Asked by: Apsana Begum (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the average pay gap between further education college lecturers and school teachers.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government’s role in relation to pay and conditions across schools and colleges differs.
The statutory requirements for teachers' pay and conditions within maintained schools in England are set out in the ‘School teachers’ pay and conditions’ document. This is updated each year, based on recommendations from the independent School Teachers’ Review Body.
In 2023/24, the median Full Time Equivalent (FTE) salary for classroom teachers in secondary schools was £47,666.
Further education (FE) colleges were incorporated under the terms of the 1992 Further and Higher Education Act, which gave them autonomy over the pay of their staff. The government does not set or recommend college teacher pay.
In 2023/24, the median FTE average salary for teaching staff on permanent or fixed term contracts in general further education colleges was £36,316 and £47,133 in sixth form colleges.
The school and FE pay figures are sourced from different datasets and recorded differently which may make it difficult to make direct comparisons.
Asked by: Damian Hinds (Conservative - East Hampshire)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the change in business rates liability for the university sector in 2026/7 relative to 2024/5.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Information about business rates, including changes that will come into effect on 1 April 2026, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/introduction-to-business-rates.
As universities are independent of government, they are responsible for understanding the potential impact of these changes and ensuring their business models enable them to address emerging risks effectively.
The Office for Students (OfS) is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial sustainability. The department works closely with the OfS to understand the sector’s changing financial landscape and level of risk.
While the sector is autonomous, this government is committed to creating a secure future for our world-leading sector so it can deliver for students, taxpayers, workers and the economy. Our decision to raise tuition fees annually in line with inflation, alongside refocusing the OfS on monitoring the sector’s financial health, demonstrates this commitment.