Student Loan Interest Rates

Baroness Twycross Excerpts

Wednesday 27th March 2024 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

Of course, those who go on to much higher earnings end up repaying much more than those on lower earnings, but no additional consideration is currently being given to the suggestion from the noble Baroness.

[Baroness Twycross (Lab)]

My Lords, the Student Money Survey last September found that 18% of students had used a food bank in the 2022-23 academic year, up from 10% in 2021-22. The annual inflation rate peaked at 9.6% in the year to October 2022, yet for the 2022-23 academic year, the value of student maintenance loans for living costs rose by only 2.3%. What are the Government doing to ensure that students can focus on their studies and not worry about how they are going to feed themselves?

[Baroness Barran (Con)]

I understand why the noble Baroness raises this point, and I am aware of the concerns around affordability. We have continued to increase the maximum loans and grants for living costs each year, with the most support going to students from the lowest-income families, and benefits for lone parents and disabled students. We have made wider cost of living investments as a Government and, in addition, have made £260 million of student premium and mental health funding available for the 2023-24 academic year.