§ Chris GraylingTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what was the average (1) loan taken out by students over the lifetime of their higher education in the last three years; [16177]
(2) what the average gross repayment of student loans is over the lifetime of the loan, including interest costs. [16172]
§ Margaret HodgeInformation as requested is not collected centrally.
Information on student loan accounts is held by the Student Loans Company, and relates to debt owed to the state or to the private sector following the two Government debt sales.
The average debt of a borrower with a mortgage style student loan entering repayment at the start of financial years 1997–98, 1998–99 and 1999–2000, the latest year for which data are available, was £2,170, £2,840 and £3,210 respectively.
The first cohort of students on a three-year course who entered higher education under the new student support arrangements is due to start repayment in April 2002. The average income contingent loan account for borrowers entering repayment in that year is estimated to be some £6,200. These borrowers include those who have completed three years of study from the 1998–99 academic year as well as those from later cohorts on shorter courses or who have left higher education early.
605WStudent loans are subsidised by the Government so that in real terms students repay exactly what they borrow. The real interest rate is 0 per cent. This means that in cash terms students are charged interest annually at the rate of inflation on the remaining balance of their loan.
Information on private sector debt such as overdrafts and other commercial loans is not available centrally.