Oral Answers to Questions Debate

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Department: Department for Education

Oral Answers to Questions

Lindsay Hoyle Excerpts
Monday 20th January 2020

(4 years, 2 months ago)

Commons Chamber
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Zarah Sultana Portrait Zarah Sultana
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In 2010, like thousands of other young people, I argued against the tripling of tuition fees, but the Government ignored us, and I currently have around £50,000 of student debt. I have here my latest student loan statement, which says that the interest added in the past year alone was £2,022.65. Can the Secretary of State look me in the eye and tell me that it is fair that working-class kids who want an education are being forced to take on colossal debt while his Government is led by a man who went from the playing fields of Eton to a free education at Oxford—

Lindsay Hoyle Portrait Mr Speaker
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Order. We are going to need short questions.

Chris Skidmore Portrait Chris Skidmore
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Students pay nothing back until they start earning £25,725 a year, and that will rise to £26,575 from April 2020. It is important to understand that the number of people from disadvantaged backgrounds going to university has risen by 62% since 2009, and the Government are committed to looking at interest rates in future as part of the Conservative manifesto’s proposals.