Written question asked by Richard Holden (Conservative) on Monday, 26 January 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 28 January 2026. It was answered by Josh MacAlister (Labour) on Friday, 13 February 2026 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Students: Loans

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 6 January 2026 to Question 99801, what the estimated annual amount (a) accrued in interest and (b) repaid by British citizens with students loans was in each of the last five financial years.

Answer: The Department for Education and the Student Loans Company (SLC) are undertaking work to improve the quality and consistency of demographic data held across their systems, to support the timely answering of parliamentary questions. Changes in the application process over time, including the transition to electronic applications, mean that demographic data held for earlier cohorts can be held differently across multiple SLC systems and repayment and interest calculations continue to include these early borrowers.

As a result, it is not currently possible to produce robust repayment figures broken down by British citizen status within the required timescales. Once this work is complete, the department expects to be able to provide more detailed information in response to such questions.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 108298
Session: 2024-26
Related items: Students: Loans
Tuesday, 6 January 2026
Written questions
House of Commons; Students: Loans
Tuesday, 31 March 2026
Written questions
House of Commons
Subjects: Costs Interest rates Loans Repayments Students
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.parliament.uk