Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has considered the potential merits of removing the loan charge for students who withdraw from university in their first year due to health conditions and other mitigating circumstances.

Students may defer or withdraw from their studies for different reasons including due to health conditions and other mitigating circumstances. Interest will continue to accrue even if a student suspends or withdraws from their course, but current students on Plan 5 loans will only accrue Retail Price Index level interest, without the additional rates of Plan 2.

Interest rates do not impact monthly repayments made by student loan borrowers, which stay at a constant rate of 9% above an earnings threshold to protect lower earners. If a borrower’s income drops below the repayment threshold, or they are not earning, their repayments will stop.

Any outstanding loan will be cancelled if the borrower becomes disabled and permanently unfit for work, and debt is never passed on to family members or descendants.