Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the impact of the proposed withdrawal of Professional and Career Development Loans on those from low-income households seeking to qualify as solicitors through the Solicitors Qualifying Examination, which is scheduled to be introduced in 2021.

Professional and Career Development Loans (PCDLs) closed to new applicants in January 2019. The department identified the majority of prospective applicants had access to statutory loans, such as Advanced Learner Loans and postgraduate master’s loans, for the courses they intended to study. Demand for PCDLs had fallen significantly as a result.

It was not possible to assess the impact of this decision on an examination that did not exist at the time.