Asked by: Alison Taylor (Labour - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to provide financial provision to respond to potential legal challenges by students who did not fully understand the implications for repayment of interest for their student loans.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
Given the inherited fiscal situation, the government is making tough but necessary decisions to protect both taxpayers and students. The government continuously reviews student finance to ensure it remains fair, sustainable, and supportive of students from all backgrounds.
Prospective students have access to a wide range of information across a range of platforms before they submit their loan application. Student loan terms and conditions make clear that the conditions of the loan may change in line with the relevant regulations and students sign these terms and conditions before any money is paid to them. Having access to this information early in the process enables prospective borrowers to seek independent advice if they feel they do not understand aspects of the student loan process, or to better understand the longer-term commitment of a student loan.
Asked by: Alison Taylor (Labour - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help protect the UK University sector from a potential loss of income from overseas students.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government welcomes international students who meet the requirements to study in the UK. The Immigration White Paper, published in May 2025, sets out a balanced approach that helps the government achieve our manifesto commitment on reducing net migration while maintaining the UK’s global competitiveness.
The Office for Students (OfS) has identified a reliance on international student fee income as a risk to English providers’ financial sustainability. It has been clear that providers will need to change their business models to protect their financial health as a response to this risk and others. As higher education (HE) providers are independent from government, they are responsible for managing their finances.
To support the English HE sector, the government has increased tuition fee caps in line with inflation and has asked the OfS to focus on financial sustainability. The financial sustainability of providers in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland is a matter for the devolved administrations.
Asked by: Alison Taylor (Labour - Paisley and Renfrewshire North)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to ensure young people from disadvantaged backgrounds can access Level 7 apprenticeships.
Answered by Janet Daby
Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only.
The government is committed to spreading opportunities and economic growth with the support of a strong skills system.
To support young people, including those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to access apprenticeships in England, the department is promoting apprenticeships to students in schools and colleges through the Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge programme and targeting young people through the Skills for Life campaign.
The department is also transforming career opportunities and advice to increase awareness of the range of high-quality options available to young people, including apprenticeships. The department has committed to improve careers advice and guarantee two weeks’ worth of work experience for every young person, as well as establish a national jobs and careers service to support people into work and help them get on at work.
This government has an extremely challenging fiscal inheritance. There are tough choices that need to be taken on how funding should be prioritised in order to generate opportunities for young people that enable them to make a start in good, fulfilling careers. In 2023/24, 65% of level 7 starts were by people over 25 years old. The future funding for apprenticeships at level 7 is under review and we will be asking more employers to step forward and fund these themselves. The department is taking advice from Skills England, who engaged with employers over the autumn, and the department expects to make a final decision on affected apprenticeships shortly.
To support more young people, who have the most to gain from apprenticeships, to access high-quality training, the department is developing new foundation apprenticeships. These will give more young people a foot in the door at the start of their working lives whilst supporting the pipeline of new talent that employers will need to drive economic growth.