Tuition fee loans have been available for EU students since 2006/07. The majority of these students will commence their repayments from April 2010, provided that their income is above the appropriate threshold. The SLC is putting new systems in place from July 2009 in plenty of time to collect those repayments.
A small number of EU students who dropped out or took short courses are eligible to repay now. SLC has set up a special team to follow up these early repayers, and is in the process of taking nine borrowers to court.
The overwhelming majority of overseas borrowers are honest and want to repay the loans they have received. We are determined, though, that taxpayers’ money will be repaid, and the SLC will be vigorous in pursuing those who try to dodge the system.
The number of full-time undergraduate English domiciled students studying in the UK and EU students studying in England who took out a maintenance loan and a tuition fee loan are shown in table 4A and table 4B respectively of the Statistical First Release on Student Support for Higher Education in England, Academic Year 2008/09 (provisional). The SFR is accessible at
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000824/index.shtml
Amended tables are shown as follows for ease of use. Tuition fee loans were introduced in September 2006 thus figures are given for the period since then.
Academic year Number of loans taken out (thousand)2 2001/02 629 2002/03 666 2003/04 682 2004/05 693.1 2005/06 719.1 2006/07 728.1 2007/08 (provisional)3 746.2 2008/09 (provisional)3,4 714.3 1 Student loans are available to eligible students normally domiciled in the United Kingdom. 2 Rounded to the nearest £10. 3 The number of loans taken out for 2008/09 is based on the number of loans approved as at 5 November 2008. 4 The numbers will increase as late applications come in and this may change the average value of loan. Source: Student Loans Company Ltd. (SLC); DIUS
Academic year Number of loans taken out (thousand)4 Students entering HE prior to 2006/073 2006/07 157.9 2007/08 (provisional) 99.1 2008/09 (provisional)5 31.2 Students entering HE from 2006/076 2006/07 239.4 2007/08 (provisional) 454.5 2008/09 (provisional)5 682.5 1 Tuition fee loans are provided by DIUS via the Student Loans Company to students normally domiciled in England who attend an HE course anywhere in the United Kingdom as well as to students from the European Union attending HE courses in England. 2 Students entering HE from 2006/07 can take out a Tuition Fee loan to cover all or part of the variable fee charged by their HEI. 3 Students entering HE prior to 2006/07 can take out a Tuition Fee loan to cover their private contribution to fees if they make any. 4 The number of loans taken out for 2008/09 is based on the number of loans approved as at 16 November 20008. The numbers will increase as late applications come in and this may change the average value of loan. 5 The Tuition Fee loans for 2008/09 will be incurred by students at the point of payment to their HE institution. 50 per cent. will be paid in February 2009. 50 per cent. will be paid in May 2009. 6 The figures for EU students are released early in the application process. Hence, these provisional figures are significantly lower than the likely final outturn. Note: Rounded to the nearest £10. Source: Student Loans Company Ltd. (SLC)
(2) what the interest rate on mortgage-style student loans has been in each year since 1998.
The interest rate to be charged on mortgage-style student loans is set out in the Education (Student Loans) Act 1990 and the Education (Student Loans) Regulations 1998, which provide for a link to the retail price index (RPI). Specifically, the interest rate for an academic year is the annual movement in the RPI for the year to the previous March. Thus, the interest rate of 3.8 per cent. for the 2008/09 academic year reflects movements in the RPI for the year to March 2008.
The interest rate for the 2009/10 academic year, starting in September 2009, will reflect the RPI for the year to March 2009. Consistent application of the RPI meets the intention that, in fairness both to the borrower and to the taxpayer, over the lifetime of the loan, the borrower will repay in real terms no more than was borrowed.
The interest rates applicable to mortgage-style loans for each academic year since 1998 are as follows:
Percentage 1998 3.5 1999 2.1 2000 2.6 2001 2.3 2002 1.3 2003 3.1 2004 2.6 2005 3.2 2006 2.4 2007 4.8 2008 3.8
I refer the hon. Member to the answer given by the then Minister of State for Lifelong Learning, Further and Higher Education on 10 September 2008, Official Report, columns 1939-41W. The response remains the same because the information published in the answer to the previous question (PQ 220225) is based on the Statistical First Release on Student Loans for Higher Education in England, Financial Year 2007-08 (provisional) which remains the latest published information available. The SFR is accessible at:
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000797/index.shtml