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.

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.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that there are an adequate number of suitable training places available for medical graduates across all of the UK, including those who have graduated in Scotland and who are mobile in terms of securing employment; what steps he is taking to prevent newly qualified doctors travelling overseas for work, particularly those graduating during this academic year and including those who graduated in 2025 and have yet to be connected with a suitable training opportunity; and whether he has plans to review the pre-entry qualifications for medical training places and start accepting UK based medical graduates, who miss out on a training place by a matter of a few exam marks.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

We set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England that over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts, with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.

We have also introduced the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 which delivers the Government’s commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training places, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors with significant National Health Service experience for specialty training places. We expect that all eligible prioritised applicants for the foundation programme in 2026 will be offered a place.

This act will ensure a sustainable medical workforce that can meet the health needs of the population, and will mean we are less reliant on an unpredictable labour market and can make best use of the substantial taxpayer investment in medical training. It will reduce competition for places and give homegrown talent a path to become the next generation of NHS doctors.

There are no current plans to review the pre-entry qualifications for medical training places in respect of UK based medical graduates who have not achieved the necessary exam marks.

Found: Hume (Labour, Scarborough and Whitby) (added 17 Nov 2025; removed 5 Jan 2026) 1 of 5 (20.0%) Alison Taylor