Student Loans

Debate between Alex McIntyre and Neil O'Brien

Wednesday 18th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Neil O’Brien]

Just one moment.

Analysis by the IFS found that total returns on going to university will be negative for about 30% of both men and women—and that is based on the cohort from the noughties. The problem now is probably even bigger because the graduate premium has declined further. As a result, many graduates now earn so little that they will never fully repay their student loans, leaving the taxpayer to cover about £8 billion in losses every year. That is why we would restore the number controls that existed for 70 years and use that to reduce the number of people who are on courses that are not good value for the taxpayer and not helping the young people, either.

To listen to Labour Members, anyone would think that there was not a single bad course, that every single course is totally brilliant and that there is no prospect of ever reducing spending on any single course. That is a fantasy world. We do not say about any other type of public service that every single instance of it is completely brilliant and there is no scope for improvement. We would use the savings from our proposal not just to abolish real interest rates on plan 2 loans but to double the number of apprenticeships for 18 to 21-year-olds so that quality apprenticeships are a real choice at age 18.

Why would we do that? Recent data shows that five years after finishing a course in 2018, the average level 4 apprentice was earning £32,000; by contrast, the average graduate was earning just £26,500 and the lower quartile of graduates were earning £19,000 or less. In many cases, a high-quality apprenticeship can be a better option than a low-value university course. That is why we would make that change.

[Alex McIntyre]

Labour Members have asked Conservative Members repeatedly if they can name a course or an institution that they would cut. The hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge (Dr Spencer) had to make up a course in David Beckham studies—as far as I understand, that never existed—to make the point. Does the hon. Gentleman have a real course in mind, or are his made up as well?

[Neil O’Brien]

We have already talked about that. If the hon. Gentleman wants a full list, he can go on my Substack and see a whole bunch of different institutions with low returns. He can also do better than that: he can look on the DFE’s website and see that many courses lead to low earnings. [Interruption.] It is not my purpose here to single out individual courses.

We have talked quite a lot about creative arts. The Institute for Fiscal Studies says that only 4.5% of those degrees represent a positive return to taxpayers. Some people will look at a statistic like that, say that it is only worth it for taxpayers 4% of the time and say, “That is not a problem. Let’s carry on shovelling money into something that is only working 4% of the time.” Other people would say, “We have to make choices, and we could use that money, which the Government continue to shovel into low-value courses, to fund more high-quality apprenticeships and cut repayments for betrayed plan 2 voters.”

Let me be clear: the current system is unfair. The Government admit it is unfair. Like so many other things, they say they will look at it. This is a Prime Minister who we can always rely on to do the right thing once we have dragged him by the nose to do it. As the former Deputy Prime Minister says, time is running out for this Labour Government, and it is time for them to stop moaning, grow a pair and fix this problem that they have moaned about.