Student Loan System

Lord Addington Excerpts

Tuesday 10th March 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I am sure those considerations are being taken into account as we move forward with this. I do not have an answer for the noble Baroness at this moment, but oversight of all the implications of change of policy is critical.

[Lord Addington (LD)]

My Lords, will the Government give us some idea of what plan they have for economic growth and what we actually want out of our university and student population? At the moment, we have a system—we all can remember the scars of its introduction —which seems to suggest, “You’ve got a lot of loan, you might not get a job, why on earth you going?” Then the universities are saying, “We haven’t got enough money and we might have to close”.

[Baroness Blake of Leeds (Lab)]

I believe this is a very sensitive area and we should not make assumptions about directions of employment from particular courses that students take. It is important to recognise that universities are being asked to look at the quality of the education they provide and destination studies from their students are critical. We are determined to link all this to our priorities and objectives for growth and for those areas where we need a talented workstream coming forward.