Statistics on Tier 4 refusals are published in the Home Office's quarterly Immigration Statistics, available in the Libraries of the House and at:

https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/immigration-statistics-quarterly-release

Information relating to individual institutions is not published in line with the requirements of the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Information on the number of refusals of tier 4 visa applications by education sector or by individual institution is not available and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

As autonomous bodies, individual UK HE institutions are able to decide their own tuition fee refund policy including what refunds will be made to overseas students who are subsequently refused a visa to study in the UK. The Department does not issue guidance, however, the QAA has issued guidance in 2012 for institutions on

sponsoring international students which included recommendations on refund procedures for international students.

The Home Office published an impact assessment on its website on the 11 October 2013 entitled “Regulating migrant access to health services in the UK”, in which it estimates the impact of implementing a health surcharge as outlined in the Immigration Bill. The Home Office predicts that implementing a health surcharge could cause Tier 4 visa grants to fall by approximately 830, which will have an impact on higher education providers of approximately £11 million per year. The surcharge is £200 per annum for most migrants; however, to reflect their contribution to UK growth, a concession was factored into the Immigration Bill for students—they will pay £150 per annum rather than the full cost.

BIS will continue to work closely with the Home Office and the higher education sector to monitor the effects of the surcharge on student numbers and to ensure that the impact is manageable.

According to data published by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) in July 2013, the average tuition fee for students studying full time for an undergraduate degree and postgraduate initial teacher training at English institutions with access agreements was £8,499. This figure represents the most recent published estimate prior to the start of the 2013/14 academic year and is an average of “headline” fees. The average after fee waivers are taken into account is £8,247, and after all institutional support is taken into account the average cost per student is estimated to be £7,860. OFFA has not published separate information relating only to fees for full-time first degree courses, nor is tuition fee data disaggregated to the level of individual courses.

These estimates represent fees charged to both UK citizens and other EU citizens, as all are charged the same fees.

OFFA's remit applies only to English universities and colleges. As higher education is a devolved matter, information on tuition fees in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Government.

According to data published by the Office for Fair Access (OFFA) in July 2013, the average tuition fee for students studying full time for an undergraduate degree and postgraduate initial teacher training at English institutions with access agreements was £8,499. This figure represents the most recent published estimate prior to the start of the 2013/14 academic year and is an average of “headline” fees. The average after fee waivers are taken into account is £8,247, and after all institutional support is taken into account the average cost per student is estimated to be £7,860. OFFA has not published separate information relating only to fees for full-time first degree courses, nor is tuition fee data disaggregated to the level of individual courses.

These estimates represent fees charged to both UK citizens and other EU citizens, as all are charged the same fees.

OFFA's remit applies only to English universities and colleges. As higher education is a devolved matter, information on tuition fees in Wales is a matter for the Welsh Government.

There have been no meetings with student representatives, higher education providers and universities on the implications of the Consumer Rights Bill. BIS consulted widely on consumer law reform in 2008 and 2012, and published a draft Bill for pre-legislative scrutiny in 2013. BIS has also completed full impact assessments for the provisions in the Bill.

Data are not collected on applications for part-time study in higher education. However, the number of part-time students enrolling in higher education has fallen by 42% since its peak in 2008-09. The latest figures from UCAS show that the number of mature applicants to full-time undergraduate courses has risen over the last two application cycles by 5%.

What recent estimate he has made of changes in the number of applications by (a) part-time and (b) mature students since changes in the level of student fees.

I thank the Minister for that answer, and for that rather startling statistic. Another startling statistic is that the number of part-time undergraduates fell by 19% in 2012-13. Does he now regret the trebling of tuition fees? Does he understand that it has undermined the number of part-time students and that it is leading to declining social mobility?

The information is not yet available. From the academic year 2012/13, the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) started to capture information on the tuition fees charged to new students. This includes the “gross fee” charged before any financial support from the institution such as waivers are taken into account, and the “net fee” charged after adjustments have been made for financial support provided by their institution. This is the first year this information has been collected and analysts at HESA are assessing this data for quality and completeness.

We use the latest independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) short-term and long-term macroeconomic forecasts from March 2013 to calculate the RAB charge. These are published under the following URL:

http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/category/publications/

Changes to estimates of earnings growth, inflation and Bank of England base rates will all have an impact on the calculation of the RAB charge. We also use loan account data provided by the Student Loans Company (SLC) to ensure that the RAB charge is calculated using the most up-to-date loan account information available. The revision of the RAB charge to 35% is attributed to new OBR forecasts being published and to updates in the loan account information provided by the SLC.

We use the latest independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) short-term and long-term macroeconomic forecasts from March 2013 to calculate the RAB charge. These are published under the following URL:

http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/category/publications/

Changes to estimates of earnings growth, inflation and Bank of England base rates will all have an impact on the calculation of the RAB charge. We also use loan account data provided by the Student Loans Company (SLC) to ensure that the RAB charge is calculated using the most up-to-date loan account information available. The revision of the RAB charge to 35% is attributed to new OBR forecasts being published and to updates in the loan account information provided by the SLC.

We use the latest independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) short-term and long-term macroeconomic forecasts from March 2013 to calculate the RAB charge. These are published under the following URL:

http://budgetresponsibility.org.uk/category/publications/

Changes to estimates of earnings growth, inflation and Bank of England base rates will all have an impact on the calculation of the RAB charge. We also use loan account data provided by the Student Loans Company (SLC) to ensure that the RAB charge is calculated using the most up-to-date loan account information available. The revision of the RAB charge to 35% is attributed to new OBR forecasts being published and to updates in the loan account information provided by the SLC.

The revision of the RAB charge can be attributed to updates in the OBR short-term and long-term economic forecasts, and to updates in the loan account information provided by the SLC. It did not include an adjustment for historic differences between forecast and actual repayments.

The model we have used to forecast future repayments has tended to overestimate the amounts due. These differences have arisen as a result of structural problems in the forecasting model, rather than any hidden inefficiency in the collections process.

We recognise that we need to improve our forecasting and we are undertaking an extensive work programme to improve the forecasting methodology which will be delivered in spring 2014 and which will bring forecasted repayments more closely into line with actual collections. This will improve the accuracy of our valuation of the loan book. The National Audit Office referred to this work in their recent value-for-money study into student loan repayments (sections 4.14 and 4.15) which can be found under the following URL:

http://www.nao.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/10307-001-Student-loan-repayments_BOOK.pdf

The Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) publishes data on the sources of income for all publicly-funded higher education institutions in the UK on an annual basis. The latest available data cover the 2011-12 academic year and was published on 7 March 2013:

http://www.hesa.ac.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2712<emid=161

The following table shows the fee income received by all publicly-funded UK higher education institutions from international students over the past five years. This includes income from both EU and non-EU students.

BIS recently published ‘Privately funded providers of higher education in the UK’ (BIS Research Paper 111, June 2013). Findings from this research indicate that international students paid a further £270 million to alternative providers in 2011-12. However, data on alternative providers are not available for earlier years.

Estimates of expenditure will be available later this year. Estimated costs for 2015-16 are subject to final decisions on Spending Review allocations.

The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) publishes estimates of the average full-time undergraduate tuition fee level at English Higher Education Institutions and Further Education Colleges for people starting their courses in September 2012 or later.

The Office for Fair Access (OFFA) publishes estimates of the average full-time undergraduate tuition fee level at English Higher Education Institutions and Further Education Colleges for people starting their courses in September 2012 or later.

Information on institutional fee levels for all three years is available from:

http://www.offa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/2013-04-Access-agreements-2014-15.pdf

http://www.offa.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/OFFA-2012.07-access-agreement-2013-14-doc-FINAL-FOR-WEB.pdf

Information on fees for part-time degree courses has not been collected centrally by BIS or other bodies. Last year OFFA collected information on the maximum full-time equivalent (FTE) fee for part-time study and the maximum fee payable in one year. It also collected information on number of part-time students paying above the basic fee level (FTE £6,000 pa) and total income from fees above the basic level.

Some historical information on changes in part-time fees is available in the report ‘Futuretrack Part-Time Higher Education Students—the benefits of part-time higher education after 3 years’ (C. Callender & D. Wilkinson, 2012) which was partly funded by BIS. It also includes the following table on part-time fees in 2012-13 for the following institutions:

The interest rate charged on student loans in each of the last five years can be found on the Student Loans Company (SLC) website. The rate on this type of income contingent loan is set by using the March retail prices index (RPI) figure, and applying that rate of interest for 12 months commencing 1 September until 31 August. However, there is a mandatory low interest cap, which means that the interest rate must be adjusted if the base rate plus 1% across a specified group of banks is lower than RPI.

http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid =93,6678642&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

For new scheme loans available to new students from September 2012, the rate is also set by reference to the March RPI figure but with an additional 3% added to the rate for those studying and up until the April after leaving their course. The interest rate charged to borrowers once they become liable to repay will be dependent on their income. The rate of interest charged on these loans is also set out in detail on the SLC website here:

http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid =93,6678755&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

The rates of interest detailed above will apply to students on both a three year undergraduate degree course and a two year foundation degree course. Postgraduate degree students are not eligible for publicly funded loans.

Estimates of the average interest rate on publicly funded student loans for the next 10 years are not available.

Students are a heterogeneous group and the private sector is likely to assess each individual before deciding whether to offer them a loan and what interest rate to charge. We are unable to provide information on the average interest rate on debt relating to loans provided by the private sector.

The interest rate charged on student loans in each of the last five years can be found on the Student Loans Company (SLC) website. The rate on this type of income contingent loan is set by using the March retail prices index (RPI) figure, and applying that rate of interest for 12 months commencing 1 September until 31 August. However, there is a mandatory low interest cap, which means that the interest rate must be adjusted if the base rate plus 1% across a specified group of banks is lower than RPI.

http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid =93,6678642&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

For new scheme loans available to new students from September 2012, the rate is also set by reference to the March RPI figure but with an additional 3% added to the rate for those studying and up until the April after leaving their course. The interest rate charged to borrowers once they become liable to repay will be dependent on their income. The rate of interest charged on these loans is also set out in detail on the SLC website here:

http://www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk/portal/page?_pageid =93,6678755&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL

The rates of interest detailed above will apply to students on both a three year undergraduate degree course and a two year foundation degree course. Postgraduate degree students are not eligible for publicly funded loans.

Estimates of the average interest rate on publicly funded student loans for the next 10 years are not available.

Students are a heterogeneous group and the private sector is likely to assess each individual before deciding whether to offer them a loan and what interest rate to charge. We are unable to provide information on the average interest rate on debt relating to loans provided by the private sector.