To match an exact phrase, use quotation marks around the search term. eg. "Parliamentary Estate". Use "OR" or "AND" as link words to form more complex queries.


Keep yourself up-to-date with the latest developments by exploring our subscription options to receive notifications direct to your inbox

Written Question
Students: Loans
Monday 12th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their estimate of the value of student loan debt for each of the past five years.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

It is not possible to provide the complete information requested within the body of the answer as this would exceed the word limit for responses. Please see the below links to the relevant reports. A copy of these reports will also be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

The valuation of the loan book is listed in the annual reports on GOV.UK, at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-annual-reports. The note on loans under the ‘Notes to Accounts’ section lists both the carrying and face value of the loan book.

For the 2019-20 annual accounts, the details for the carrying value are on page 195 and the details for the face value of the loan book are on page 202: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/932898/DfE_consolidated_annual_report_and_accounts_2019_to_2020__web_version_.pdf.

For the 2018-19 annual accounts, the details for the carrying value are on page 159 and the details for the face value of the loan book are on page 161: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/906353/DfE_Consolidated_annual_report_2018-19_web.pdf.

For the 2017-18 annual accounts, the details for the carrying value are on page 147 and the details for the face value of the loan book are on page 148: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/728074/DfE_annual_reports_and_accounts_17_to_18_-_WEB.pdf.

For the 2016-17 annual accounts, the details for the carrying value are on page 154 and the details for the face value of the loan book are on page 155: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/630523/DfE_Consolidated_annual_report_and_accounts_2016-17_WEB.pdf.

For the 2015-16 annual accounts, the details for the carrying value are on page 177 and the details for the face value of the loan book are on page 178: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/537425/bis-annual-report-accounts-2015-16-web.pdf.


Written Question
Students: Loans
Monday 12th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of graduate earnings in their calculation of the write off of student loan debt.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The department’s assessment of the earnings of student loan borrowers takes into account the latest Student Loan Company and Longitudinal Education Outcomes data, plus survey data from the Labour Force Survey and British Household Panel Survey, mortality statistics from the Office for National Statistics and macro-economic forecasts of earnings growth from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The assessment can be accessed here: https://obr.uk/fsr/fiscal-sustainability-report-july-2020/, in the document 'July 2020 Fiscal sustainability report - charts and tables: Chapter 2'. Detailed information on the assessment of graduate earnings is published in the Earnings forecasts section of the Student Loans methodology, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loan-forecasts-england-2019-to-2020, in the document 'Student loan forecasts, England 2019 to 2020: quality and methodology information'. The next update to the student loan forecasts publication is announced for June 2021.


Written Question
Students: Loans
Monday 12th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what calculation they use to decide the level of write off of student loan debt.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The government publishes its loan write-off rules, available here: https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/when-your-student-loan-gets-written-off-or-cancelled. We estimate the proportion of loan outlay issued in each financial year that we do not expect to be repaid through a metric called the Resource And Budgeting (RAB) charge.

The RAB charge is calculated by taking repayment forecasts for income contingent repayment loans and discounting them back to the period that the loan is issued using the discount rate provided by HM Treasury (currently RPI+0.7%). This gives us a net present value (NPV) of the future repayments and the charge is the relative difference between the loan issued and the NPV of the repayments. Further details of the RAB charge calculation are provided in the annual student loan forecast publication methodology document, available here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/920992/Student_loan_forecasts_201920.pdf.

The RAB charge estimate is determined by earnings and repayment projections over the next 30-40 years, and therefore is inherently uncertain. Forecasts for the RAB charge are published each year, and are available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/student-loan-forecasts-for-england/2019-20.


Written Question
Students: Loans
Monday 12th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the write off value of the sale of student loan debt in each of the last five years.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

A total of £8.1 million has been written off from the sold loan cohorts in the financial years 2016/17 to 2020/21.


Written Question
Students: Loans
Monday 12th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the UK's departure from the EU, what assessment they have made of the ability of (1) UK citizens to work in the EU, and (2) the earnings potential of graduates, in calculating the write off of student loan debt.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The Withdrawal Agreement protects the rights of UK nationals who were lawfully resident in the EU before the end of the transition period, meaning they can continue to live, work, study, and access benefits and services broadly as they did before the UK left the EU. Member states may require a visa and/or work permit from British citizens intending to work or provide a service there.  British citizens should check with the embassy of the country where they plan to travel for work or to provide a service for what type of visa or permit, if any, they will need.

Regardless of the UK’s departure from the EU, the assessment of the earnings of student loan borrowers continues to take into account the latest Student Loan Company and Longitudinal Education Outcomes data, plus survey data from the Labour Force Survey and British Household Panel Survey, mortality statistics from the Office for National Statistics and macro-economic forecasts of earnings growth from the Office for Budget Responsibility. The assessment can be accessed here: https://obr.uk/fsr/fiscal-sustainability-report-july-2020/, in the document 'July 2020 Fiscal sustainability report - charts and tables: Chapter 2'. Detailed information on the assessment of graduate earnings is published in the Earnings forecasts section of the Student Loans methodology, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/student-loan-forecasts-england-2019-to-2020, in the document 'Student loan forecasts, England 2019 to 2020: quality and methodology information'. The next update to the student loan forecasts publication is announced for June 2021.


Written Question
Students: Loans
Monday 12th April 2021

Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what amount of student debt has been sold in each of the past five years; and at what value.

Answered by Lord Parkinson of Whitley Bay - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)

The government has carried out 2 sales of student loans in the past 5 years. The first sale, completed in December 2017, achieved £1.7 billion from a cohort of loans with a face value of £3.5 billion. The second sale, completed in December 2018, achieved £1.9 billion from a cohort of loans with a face value of £3.9 billion.


Written Question
Schools: Coronavirus
Tuesday 19th January 2021

Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government (1) what assessment they have made of whether current guidelines for schools are sufficient to address the spread of (a) the strain of COVID-19 identified in the UK, and (b) the reported “South African” strain of COVID-19; (2) who has conducted and is conducting any such assessment; (3) whether they plan to provide any new safety measures to schools to address any such new strains of COVID-19; and (4) if so, when they plan to do so.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

The department has worked closely with Public Health England to develop a system of controls to reduce the risk of transmission in schools. When implemented in line with a revised risk assessment, these measures create an inherently safer environment for children and staff where the risk of transmission of infection is substantially reduced. The system of controls is reviewed continually in light of new evidence – including evidence about new variants.

There is no evidence the new variant of the virus ‘VUI – 202012/01’, identified in the UK, causes more serious illness in either children or adults and there continues to be strong evidence to date that children and younger people (under 18 years) are much less susceptible to severe clinical disease than older people.

There is no current evidence that it may be particularly dangerous to clinically extremely vulnerable children.

We will continue to work closely with Public Health England and others to update our guidance based on the latest medical and scientific advice.


Written Question
Disinformation: Curriculum
Monday 21st December 2020

Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to incorporate content into the national curriculum to support educators to counter conspiracy theories.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

In June 2019, we published guidance on teaching online safety in schools, which can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/teaching-online-safety-in-schools.

This non-statutory guidance outlines how schools can ensure their pupils understand how to stay safe and behave online as part of existing curriculum requirements. It complements existing and forthcoming subjects, including Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, Health Education, Citizenship, and Computing.

There are many aspects of the curriculum that can help young people develop the knowledge and digital skills they need to recognise misinformation, disinformation, and conspiracy theories. For example, citizenship teaches about critical media literacy in relation to the proper functioning of a democracy. Pupils learn about distinguishing fact from opinion, as well as exploring freedom of speech and the role and responsibility of the media in informing and shaping public opinion. History teaches pupils to understand how different types of historical sources are used to make historical claims, and discern how and why contrasting arguments and interpretations of the past have been constructed. The computing curriculum, introduced in 2014, is providing children and teachers with the fundamental knowledge to make well-informed decisions on e-safety, from Key Stages 1 to 4. There is progression in the content, to reflect the different and escalating online risks that young people face.

Additionally, 'Education for a connected world', developed by the UK Council for Internet Safety Education group, provides schools support to develop a rich, effective and developmental curriculum, which will support young people to be safe, healthy and thrive online. It includes a section on the importance of children knowing how to identify and distinguish between fake news, disinformation, and misinformation.


Written Question
Students: Loans
Monday 9th September 2019

Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government how many students who have overpaid their student loans since 2009–10 have yet to be refunded.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

The information is not held centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.


Written Question
Students: Loans
Monday 9th September 2019

Asked by: Lord Mendelsohn (Labour - Life peer)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to refund the £28.5 million of student loan overpayments made since 2009–10; and if so, when.

Answered by Baroness Berridge

The government has introduced a system that allows weekly sharing of data between HM Revenue & Customs and the Student Loans Company (SLC) so that loan repayments and the clearing of balances can be updated more accurately. In the past, such data sharing has been on an annual basis, which could mean a delay before the repayment system recognised the loan had been paid in full.

The SLC allows customers who are within 23 months of repaying their student loan to repay it through direct debit. A letter confirming this is issued to eligible customers, along with their annual statement. Customers who sign up to the scheme then repay the set amount over the agreed time, at the end of which the balance will be cleared and any over-repayment avoided.

The SLC contacts all customers who, nonetheless, over repay on their student loan debt, to invite them to apply for a refund. This can prove difficult if the borrower has failed to keep their contact details up to date. Once the relevant details have been confirmed, the SLC will issue refunds.