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Students: Loans

Asked by David ReedConservativeDepartment for EducationTabled Answered 23 March 2026UIN 119777

The question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the estimated total additional lifetime repayment cost of the Plan 2 threshold freeze announced in Autumn Budget 2025 is for borrowers earning at (a) £30,000, (b) £40,000, (c) £50,000, (d) £60,000, (e) £66,000, (f) £75,000 and (g) £90,000.

Answered by Josh MacAlister

The department does not hold estimates of lifetime repayment costs for Plan 2 borrowers by earnings bands.

The Autumn Budget included freezes to Plan 2 repayment and interest thresholds for at their 2026/27 financial year level until April 2030, when they will increase annually by inflation.

The following analysis of the impact of freezing the repayment and interest thresholds to aid the decision:

Average Lifetime repayments (2024/25 financial year prices)

Baseline

Policy

Impact

£

%

Entire cohort

£27,000

£28,300

£1,300

5%

Average

Lifetime graduate earnings decile

1

£2,000

£2,000

£0

0%

2

£4,300

£4,700

£400

9%

3

£7,700

£8,100

£400

5%

4

£11,600

£13,000

£1,400

12%

5

£16,900

£18,500

£1,600

9%

6

£23,100

£25,200

£2,100

9%

7

£31,300

£33,600

£2,300

7%

8

£41,200

£43,500

£2,300

6%

9

£54,500

£56,100

£1,600

3%

10

£59,100

£59,500

£400

1%

We also do not hold the proportion of borrowers projected to repay of their student loan than the graduate earnings premium attributable to their degree.

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