Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to promote the availability of loans to part-time students.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills has developed marketing materials and information aimed at part time students and these are made available online and through schools and further education colleges as part of the annual Student Finance Tour. Since the new non-means tested part time fee loans were introduced in 2012 the number of students taking out loans has risen from 34,000 in 2012/13 to 55,000 in 2013/14.