Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to reform the student finance system; and what assessment she has made of the potential merits of (a) reintroducing maintenance grants on a universal basis and (b) a full review of undergraduate and postgraduate loan structures, including Plan 2 and Plan 5 loans.

The government is taking decisive action to make the student loans system fairer. We are capping Plan 2 and Plan 3 interest rates for 2026/27 to protect borrowers from the risk of inflation shocks; future-proofing maintenance loans by increasing them in-line with forecast inflation every year; and reintroducing targeted, means-tested maintenance grants of up to £1,000 per year from 2028/29, funded by a new levy on providers for international students.

Maintenance grants will be available to students studying subjects that support the government’s missions and the Industrial Strategy, in-line with our ambition to deliver a more sustainable, more specialised and more efficient higher education sector, better aligned with the needs of our economy.

We are continuing to look at ways to make the system fairer for students, graduates, taxpayers and the sector, while keeping our higher education system financially sustainable so it can deliver now and for future generations.