§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills for what reasons student loans are provided at a lower than commercial rate of interest. [14535]
§ Margaret HodgeThe costs of higher education are shared between the state, parents and graduates, given the clear evidence that the graduates benefit financially from their higher education. Student loans are provided at a zero real rate of interest as part of the Government's contribution to the costs of higher education.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what the average annual(a) subsistence and (b) study costs were of taking a degree at (i) Oxford, (ii) Cambridge, (iii) London and (iv) other English universities in the most recent year for which figures are available. [14536]
§ Margaret HodgeThe Department's latest student income and expenditure survey of a representative sample of higher education students shows the following figures for students' reported expenditure in the academic year 1998–99:
Average expenditure of full-time undergraduate and PGCE students, 1998–99 £ London Other England Living costs1 4,109 4,094 Accommodation costs2 1,534 1,279 Participation costs3 824 780 Expenditure on children 65 48 1Includes food, household goods, personal items such as toiletries, clothes and tobacco, entertainment including alcohol, non-course related travel and other general expenditure. 2 Includes rent, mortgage, retainer fee paid over the vacation, council tax, household insurance and utility bills. 3Includes students' personal contribution to fees, books, equipment and stationery, travel to and from college and childcare costs. Source:
Changing student finances: income, expenditure and the take-up of student loans among full- and part-time higher education students in 1998–99, by Claire Callender and Martin Kemp, DfEE Research report 213, December 2000
Figures are not available for Cambridge and Oxford universities separately from 'Other England'. Cambridge university was not among the institutions selected to take part in the survey, and the sample of students at Oxford university was too small to provide reliable data.
§ Mr. Austin MitchellTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills when she will publish the Student Funding review. [14532]
§ Margaret HodgeThe outcome of the Student Funding review will be announced next year. We will be consulting on proposals for change before any decisions are made.