HC Deb 14 December 1998 vol 322 cc377-8W
Mr. Viggers

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment if he will extend the scope of student loans for dental students and others who are required to undertake extended training. [62935]

Mr. Mudie

Under our new system of student support, dental and medical students in the first four years of their course will have access to the same loan, grant and fees support as all other students. In years five and beyond the Department of Health will meet their tuition fees and they will receive approximately half of their maintenance support through means tested NHS bursaries and the rest in non-means tested loans.

Students on other long courses are entitled to the same loan, grant and fees support as all other students.

Under our new system, students who have to study for more than a certain number of weeks in the academic year will be eligible, as now, for additional support for these extra weeks. This support will be in the form of an additional loan, repayable on the same terms as the basic maintenance loan.

Mr. Green

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what plans he has to mitigate the effect of high debt levels on dental students incurred through the student loan scheme; and if he will make a statement. [63371]

Mr. Mudie

Under our new system of student support, dental and medical students in the first four years of their course will have access to the same loan, grant and fees support as all other students. In years five and beyond the Department of Health will meet their tuition fees and they will receive approximately half of their maintenance support through means tested NHS bursaries and the rest in non-means tested loans from the DfEE.

Students on the new income contingent loans scheme will benefit from the fairer repayment system which links repayments directly to graduates' income. No repayments are made until their income reaches a threshold, initially set at £10,000, and thereafter they are calculated as a percentage of income above that level. This will ensure that dental students, and others with larger loans to repay will have affordable repayments linked directly to their earnings.

Dental and other students who entered higher education before 1998–99 and who take out five or more old style loans will repay these loans over a period of seven years compared to five years for borrowers with four or less loans. Borrowers may apply to defer repayment for a year at a time if their income does not exceed the earnings related threshold, which for 1998–99 is set at £17,784 per annum.

Mr. Green

To ask the Secretary of State for Education and Employment what is the average level of debt incurred by dental students through the student loan scheme when they graduate. [63372]

Mr. Mudie

This information is not collected centrally. Data taken from 'Statistics of Education, Student Support for 1996–97', prepared by the Government Statistical Service and published by the Department for Education and Employment, show that borrowers entering repayment in 1997–98 owed an average of £2,180 to the Student Loans Company.