Students: Loans
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of maintaining thresholds for repayment of student loans between 2027-28 and 2029-30 for Plan 2 students who started their course between 2012 and 2023 on fair access to higher education for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
Answered by Josh MacAlister
Plan 2 loans were designed and implemented by previous governments. Students in England starting degrees under this government have different arrangements.
Lower earning graduates remain protected by this change. Graduates only begin repaying once their earnings exceed the threshold, paying 9% of income above that level. As repayments remain income-contingent if a borrower’s salary remains the same, their monthly repayments will also stay the same.
The department has produced the attached analysis regarding the lifetime impact of freezing the repayment and interest thresholds.
The department will release an equalities impact assessment, including the impact on lifetime repayments, alongside other borrower impacts for the Plan 2 repayment threshold and interest threshold freeze announced at the Autumn Budget. Published results may differ from those provided due to model and data updates.
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