Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the impact on students and graduates of using the Retail Prices Index (RPI) in student finance calculations; and whether she will consider adopting the Consumer Prices Index (CPI), which is generally lower than RPI, to better reflect inflation pressures faced by students.

Decisions on student loan repayment arrangements must be considered alongside wider fiscal priorities, the long-term sustainability of the higher education (HE) funding system and value for money for taxpayers. The department has already taken decisive action against inflationary pressures by capping the maximum interest rates on Plan 2 and Plan 3 loans at 6% for the 2026/27 academic year, protecting borrowers from inflation shocks.

The Office for National Statistics has confirmed that it will bring the methods and data sources used to calculate the Consumer Prices Index, including owner occupiers' housing costs, into the Retail Prices Index from February 2030. The government will continue to consider the appropriate treatment of inflation measures within the student finance system as part of its ongoing consideration of HE funding and student support arrangements.