Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that young people are fully informed about student loan repayment terms.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government continuously reviews student finance to ensure it remains fair, sustainable, and supportive of students from all backgrounds.
Interest accrues on loan balances from the first day the loan is paid to the learning provider, and/or to the student, until the loan has been repaid in full or cancelled. Interest rates are linked to the Retail Price Index to maintain the real value of the loan over a long loan term but do not impact monthly repayments made by borrowers.
Prospective students have access to information across a range of platforms before submitting their loan application. Student loan terms and conditions make clear that the conditions of the loan may change in line with the regulations that govern the loans. Students sign these terms and conditions before any money is paid to them.
Repayments are calculated solely on earnings, not on amount borrowed or the rate of interest applied. Any outstanding loan, including interest accrued, will be cancelled after the loan term ends, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will commit to a review of the student loan interest rate system.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
The government continuously reviews student finance to ensure it remains fair, sustainable, and supportive of students from all backgrounds.
Interest accrues on loan balances from the first day the loan is paid to the learning provider, and/or to the student, until the loan has been repaid in full or cancelled. Interest rates are linked to the Retail Price Index to maintain the real value of the loan over a long loan term but do not impact monthly repayments made by borrowers.
Prospective students have access to information across a range of platforms before submitting their loan application. Student loan terms and conditions make clear that the conditions of the loan may change in line with the regulations that govern the loans. Students sign these terms and conditions before any money is paid to them.
Repayments are calculated solely on earnings, not on amount borrowed or the rate of interest applied. Any outstanding loan, including interest accrued, will be cancelled after the loan term ends, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of student loan interest rates and repayment threshold freezes on (a) women, (b) disabled graduates and (c) graduates from lower socio-economic backgrounds.
Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)
Interest accrues on loan balances until the loan has been repaid in full or cancelled, but interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by borrowers.
Borrowers on Plan 5 student loans only accrue interest at Retail Price Index (RPI) (currently 3.2%) meaning graduates will not repay more than they borrow in real terms. Borrowers on Plan 2 terms have interest applied at RPI only if earnings fall below the repayment threshold, or when out of the labour market, such as with caring responsibilities, ensuring that the loan’s debt value will not grow in real terms. Additionally, borrowers, regardless of their plan, earning under the repayment threshold are not required to make repayments.
Graduates only begin repaying once their earnings exceed the earnings threshold, paying 9% of income above that level. If a graduate becomes disabled and permanently unfit for work, loan balances, including interest may be written off.
For all borrowers, any outstanding loan, including interest accrued, will be cancelled after the loan term ends, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that all 16 to 18-year-olds receive political education in schools.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
In secondary schools, democracy is currently taught through the national curriculum for citizenship, with an optional GCSE available in citizenship studies. Political education is not compulsory post-16, but providers are free to teach it if they wish. When political issues are discussed, schools must offer pupils a balanced presentation of opposing views and should not present materials in a politically biased or one-sided way.
On 5 November, the independent Curriculum and Assessment Review published its final report, which includes recommendations for a refreshed curriculum and assessment system in England. The government’s response to the report recognises the importance of developing young people’s understanding of democratic institutions and processes and commits to strengthening citizenship content to improve progression across all key stages.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to ensure that children from lower-income backgrounds are not disadvantaged in access to grammar school places.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are not permitted to charge parents for their children’s admission or education. This includes charges for children to sit a school’s entrance test. However, they can charge for optional extras such as familiarisation tests.
The department and the Grammar School Heads Association (GSHA) entered into a memorandum of understanding in 2018, which runs until 2027, through which the GSHA agreed to work with its members to increase access for disadvantaged children.
Some local authorities and schools provide free test familiarisation materials for all children, including for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the practice of state grammar schools charging fees for familiarisation tests ahead of 11-plus entrance exams.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
Schools are not permitted to charge parents for their children’s admission or education. This includes charges for children to sit a school’s entrance test. However, they can charge for optional extras such as familiarisation tests.
The department and the Grammar School Heads Association (GSHA) entered into a memorandum of understanding in 2018, which runs until 2027, through which the GSHA agreed to work with its members to increase access for disadvantaged children.
Some local authorities and schools provide free test familiarisation materials for all children, including for children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of including a target of at least 80 hours of enrichment activities in the enrichment framework.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
I refer the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam to the answer of 2 July 2025 to Question 62871.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will prohibit the voluntary engagement of children as matchball assistants at grassroots football clubs.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill should not prohibit the voluntary engagement of children as match ball assistants at grassroots football clubs, as it does not change the scope of what is or is not considered employment for the purposes of the Children and Young Persons Act 1933.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when she expects construction of Angel Hill Free School in Rosehill to begin.
Answered by Stephen Morgan - Government Whip, Lord Commissioner of HM Treasury
Works at Angel Hill Free School are expected to commence in September 2025 subject to the contract being awarded in August.
Departmental officials working on the programme would be happy to meet to discuss the project in detail alongside the Trust.
Asked by: Luke Taylor (Liberal Democrat - Sutton and Cheam)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to enable Get Information About Schools to recent census data.
Answered by Catherine McKinnell
Get Information About Schools (GIAS) is the department’s register for several organisation types, including schools and academies. GIAS is used by the department and key partners to contact establishments, update systems, perform analysis and inform policy decisions, some of which carry funding implications.
Information on pupils in the GIAS service is based on data provided by schools in the January school census and is updated each summer following the publication of the Schools, pupils and their characteristics accredited official statistics release, which is available at the following address: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-pupils-and-their-characteristics/2023-24. This time point is used because it is the spring collection when the department receives information for all establishment types (such as General Hospital Schools, Alternative Provision and independent schools) and across all data items (such as free school meal eligibility). This allows for one consistent time point to be used in this public resource.