§ Mr. McGradyTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what the Government income from Northern Ireland-domiciled undergraduates' contributions in tuition fees, student loan repayments and interest on student loans has been since 1995–96. [178242]
§ Mr. GardinerTuition fees are paid by students directly to their institutions, and therefore no income is generated for Government. On the basis of Resource Allocation Budgets, student loan repayments and interest on student loans from 2001–02, the earliest date 965W from which information is available, are set out in the table, which also includes, for each year, the total amount of student loans outstanding:
£million Repayments Interest Outstanding loans 2001—02 9.264 6.231 321.647 2002—03 11.564 6.034 424,223 2003—04 13.000 9.533 517,839 Unlike commercial loans, interest on student loans is charged at the rate of inflation only. This ensures that, in real terms, the amount repaid is equal to the amount borrowed.