§ Baroness Stedmanasked Her Majesty's Government:
Why there is no difference between the arrangements for student loans for courses that last for 30 weeks each year with 22 weeks' vacation and clinical, medical, dental and veterinary courses which last for 48 weeks a year with four weeks' vacation, given the difference in opportunity to secure earnings under these respective regimes.
Lord LucasThe full-year rate of student loan is intended to cover the entire academic year for all borrowers. The main rate of the means-tested mandatory award is intended to cover normal term-time attendance on the course and the short vacations. Where students are required to attend their course for longer periods, they are entitled to an "extra weeks" allowance in addition to the main rate of their mandatory award. This allowance, currently £55.45 for most students, provides additional resources to supplement the full-year student loan. It is payable for each week or part of a week of the extra period during which the student attends his course. Where the student attends his course for 48 weeks in the year, the allowance is also payable for the four weeks' vacation.