Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what was (1) the indicative budget allocation, and (2) the actual level of borrowing, for part-time higher education fee loans in England in (a) 2016–17, and (b) 2017–18.

The Student Loans Company publishes statistics on student loan expenditure by financial year as part of an annual national statistic ‘The Student Loans Company: Student Loans in England’. These statistics are available in the tables at:

https://www.slc.co.uk/official-statistics/student-loans-debt-and-repayment/england.aspx.[1]

In the financial years 2016-17 and 2017-18, £237.6 million and £246 million respectively were paid in part-time tuition fee loans in England.

There is no separate budget for part-time loans in the department. The budget for student loans for all types of study is included within the Departmental Supplementary Estimates. For financial year 2016-17 see the attachment entitled “Part II: Changes Proposed”, also available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplementary-estimates-2016-17, (page 185). For 2017-18 see attachment entitled “Part II: Revised subhead detail including additional provision”, also available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supplementary-estimates-2017-18, (page 196).

[1] It is not possible to attach this information as it is part of a lengthy, complex and detailed data set.