Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
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 student finance means-testing system on families with multiple children attending higher education at the same time; and whether she plans to review how maintenance support is calculated in such circumstances.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government considers the current household income assessment the fairest and most consistent way to target living cost support at undergraduate students whose families are least able to support them.
For the 2026/27 academic year, when two or more students in the same family are in higher education (HE), the student finance system takes this into account when calculating maintenance support.
Under the current split contributions policy, where household income exceeds £42,875, the same household contribution is shared across those students, rather than being applied separately. Some households supporting more than one student in HE can therefore receive more maintenance support than a household on the same income supporting only one student.
Under the Lifelong Learning Entitlement, split contributions will not apply to eligible new students starting courses or modules on or after 1 January 2027. Removing split contributions will therefore create a more consistent and streamlined approach to maintenance support across all students, regardless of household income, study intensity or mode of study.
Maintenance support will continue to be based on household income, with the highest levels of support targeted at students from the lowest-income households. Eligible students will also continue to be able to access other forms of student support, subject to meeting the relevant eligibility criteria.
The government will continue to keep the student finance system under review to ensure it remains fair, sustainable and focused on those with the greatest financial need.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the level of barriers faced by estranged students when accessing student finance; and whether she will take steps to simplify the application process and evidential requirements for those students.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government recognises that estranged students suffer from financial barriers to study, are more likely to suffer negative effects from high cost of living, work more paid hours whilst studying compared with other student groups and have higher rates of course withdrawal.
Students who are estranged from their parents are treated as independent students, which means their entitlement to loans for living costs is based on their own household income rather than that of their parents.
This means that most estranged students will qualify for the maximum loans for living costs, which are increasing in line with forecast inflation every academic year from 2026/27 onwards.
From the 2028/29 service year, we are reintroducing maintenance grants of up to £1,000 per year for full-time students from low-income households, such as estranged students who are studying courses aligned with the government's missions and Industrial Strategy.
Evidence of estrangement is needed to ensure that students receive their correct entitlement to student support. Students can either submit a Confirmation of Estrangement Form or a supporting statement to Student Finance England, both of which must be completed by an independent third party with good standing in the community.
The step-by-step application process for estranged students, together with a link to the Confirmation of Estrangement Form, is set out in detail on GOV.UK and is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/applying-for-student-finance-as-an-estranged-student/applying-for-student-finance-as-an-estranged-student. The government reviews guidance and the application processes on an ongoing basis.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact on students and graduates of using the Retail Prices Index (RPI) in student finance calculations; and whether she will consider adopting the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), which is generally lower than RPI, to better reflect inflation pressures faced by students.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Decisions on student loan repayment arrangements must be considered alongside wider fiscal priorities, the long-term sustainability of the higher education (HE) funding system and value for money for taxpayers. The department has already taken decisive action against inflationary pressures by capping the maximum interest rates on Plan 2 and Plan 3 loans at 6% for the 2026/27 academic year, protecting borrowers from inflation shocks.
The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that it will bring the methods and data sources used to calculate the Consumer Prices Index, including owner occupiers' housing costs, into the Retail Prices Index from February 2030. The government will continue to consider the appropriate treatment of inflation measures within the student finance system as part of its ongoing consideration of HE funding and student support arrangements.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has assessed whether the use of parental income to determine eligibility for student maintenance support remains fair and fit for purpose; and whether she plans to review those arrangements to ensure that students receive adequate support regardless of their parents’ ability to contribute to their living costs.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government considers the current household income assessment for living costs support to be the fairest and most consistent way of targeting support towards undergraduate students whose families have the least capacity to support them.
To help students from the most disadvantaged backgrounds progress and succeed in higher education, we have future-proofed our living costs loan offer by committing to increase them in line with forecast inflation each academic year from the 2026/27.
This will ensure that students from the lowest income families receive the largest year-on-year cash increases in support and provide students with greater long-term financial certainty about the financial support available while they study.
Maximum loans for living costs have been increased by 2.71% for the 2026/27 academic year.
We will continue to keep the student finance system under review to ensure that it remains fair and financially sustainable.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to the International Student Levy Government technical consultation response, which fields of the Jisc Student Record will be used to determine which students a higher education institution will be eligible to pay the levy for.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Higher education (HE) providers will pay the levy for their registered international students annually from the 2028/29 academic year. We expect students to be deemed international by not being eligible for home fees (Jisc field FEELIG=2) or, where this is not assessed, by having a non-UK permanent address (Jisc field PERMADDCOUNTRY).
The International Student Levy consultation response provides further detail, with Jisc Student Record coverage explained on the Higher Education Statistics Agency website. International students on HE courses at further education colleges will be identified using the Individualised Learner Record.
Full draft guidance on the levy calculation and data fields used will be shared with providers ahead of trial calculations. The Office for Students intends to test this in summer 2027 and share indicative outcomes with providers in February 2028.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ask Sheffield Hallam University to reconsider its proposal to close its Collegiate nursery provision.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
I would like to say how sorry I was to read of the proposed closure of Sheffield Hallam’s nursery. I know how devastating such closures can be and the impact this can have on families and the wider community.
Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area.
The department does not regulate the contracts between private businesses and parents buying childcare from them, and it would not be appropriate to become involved in local decision making. We are therefore unfortunately unable to directly intervene in individual cases.
The department has regular contact with each local authority in England about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. Where local authorities report sufficiency challenges, we discuss what action they are taking to address those issues and where needed support them with any specific requirements through our childcare sufficiency support contract. No local authorities
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what progress she has made on the commitment to review early years funding, including national funding formulae, and consult the sector on changes by summer 2026; and when the consultation will launch.
Answered by Olivia Bailey
We remain committed to engaging closely with stakeholders and launching the early years funding consultation in line with our stated timeframe of summer 2026. Further details on the date of publication will be confirmed in due course.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the net cost to her Department of the student loans system associated with the student loan outlay provided to English Plan 2/Plan 5 undergraduate borrowers in England in (i) 2022/23, (ii) 2023/24, (iii) 2024/25 and (iv) in the future.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Details of the expected government subsidy in the financial years requested, in respect of student loan outlay when all future forecasted and discounted repayments are accounted for and otherwise known as Resource Accounting and Budgeting charge, can be found below.
2022/23 financial year: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/b2347ffa-4373-417c-f41c-08deb23852d3. This data is from table 4.1 in the fuller publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/student-loan-forecasts-for-england/2022-23.
2023/24 financial year: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/14f870b6-e141-4285-c5a6-08deb20526ae. This data is from table 4.1 in the fuller publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/student-loan-forecasts-for-england/2023-24
2024/25 financial year and forecasts: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/data-tables/permalink/fae8f4af-58bf-4647-c5a7-08deb20526ae. This data is from table 4.1 in the fuller publication: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/student-loan-forecasts-for-england/2024-25.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the proposed 15 day limit for local authority visits to home educated children in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill would apply during school holidays.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will empower local authorities to request to see a child in any of the homes in which the child lives within 15 days of the local authority recording the child’s home address(es) on their Children Not in School (CNIS) registers. The 15-day timeframe applies, irrespective of school holidays. After this point, the Bill also empowers local authorities to request a home visit for the purpose of determining whether to serve a preliminary notice or School Attendance Order (SAO).
If the parent on whom the request was made refuses the home visit, the local authority must take this into account when deciding whether to issue a preliminary notice or a SAO. As is the case now, parents of children subject to a SAO would only be subject to sanctions, such as fines, if found guilty in court of the offence of breaching the order. Parents may be found guilty if they do not enrol their child at the named school and are unable to demonstrate that they are providing a suitable education for their child and/or, where relevant, that education outside of a school is in their child’s best interests.
The department does not currently collect data on the number of home visits carried out by local authorities in relation to home educated children, nor on the living arrangements or family dynamics of those children.
However, we will provide local authorities with additional funding to support them to carry out their new duties. The amount of funding will be determined via a new burdens assessment.
We will also provide statutory guidance, which will be publicly consulted on, and a training package to support parents and local authorities to understand how the CNIS measures should work in practice, including how the measures apply in situations where children live across more than one household.
Asked by: Abtisam Mohamed (Labour - Sheffield Central)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the proposed 15 day limit for local authority visits to home educated children in the Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill would apply to (a) requesting the visit, (b) finalising arrangements for a visit or (c) carrying out the visit.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will empower local authorities to request to see a child in any of the homes in which the child lives within 15 days of the local authority recording the child’s home address(es) on their Children Not in School (CNIS) registers. The 15-day timeframe applies, irrespective of school holidays. After this point, the Bill also empowers local authorities to request a home visit for the purpose of determining whether to serve a preliminary notice or School Attendance Order (SAO).
If the parent on whom the request was made refuses the home visit, the local authority must take this into account when deciding whether to issue a preliminary notice or a SAO. As is the case now, parents of children subject to a SAO would only be subject to sanctions, such as fines, if found guilty in court of the offence of breaching the order. Parents may be found guilty if they do not enrol their child at the named school and are unable to demonstrate that they are providing a suitable education for their child and/or, where relevant, that education outside of a school is in their child’s best interests.
The department does not currently collect data on the number of home visits carried out by local authorities in relation to home educated children, nor on the living arrangements or family dynamics of those children.
However, we will provide local authorities with additional funding to support them to carry out their new duties. The amount of funding will be determined via a new burdens assessment.
We will also provide statutory guidance, which will be publicly consulted on, and a training package to support parents and local authorities to understand how the CNIS measures should work in practice, including how the measures apply in situations where children live across more than one household.