§ Mr. SteinbergTo ask the Secretary of State for Education what estimate he has made of the number of graduates who are unemployed and are unable to repay, or are having difficulties repaying, student loans; and what provisions are made for this.
§ Mr. BoswellFigures are not available on the number of graduates who are deferring repayment of student loans specifically because of unemployment. The Student Loans Company's annual report 1992 records a total of 16,746 borrowers who had deferred repayments in the last academic year. Any borrower whose gross income, for whatever reason, does not exceed 85 per cent. of national average earnings can defer repayments for a year at a time. These deferment provisions mean that borrowers are under no obligation to repay loans until their income reaches a level where they should be able to afford to do so.