The government is forecast to subsidise £95.5bn of the £238.0bn total face value of the student loan book as of 1^st April 2024.

Of undergraduate borrowers taking their first loan outlay in the academic year 2025/26 under Plan 5 terms, 45% are expected to never repay their loan in full.

For those who started in 2022/23 under Plan 2 68% were expected to never repay their loans in full.

For Masters loans, 32% are expected to never fully repay their loan.

This subsidy is a conscious investment in our young people and the skills capacity, people and economy of this country.

These statistics are publicly available in the student loan forecasts for England publication for the financial year 2025-26 which is available here: Release home - Student loan forecasts for England - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK.

The government is forecast to subsidise £95.5bn of the £238.0bn total face value of the student loan book as of 1^st April 2024.

Of undergraduate borrowers taking their first loan outlay in the academic year 2025/26 under Plan 5 terms, 45% are expected to never repay their loan in full.

For those who started in 2022/23 under Plan 2 68% were expected to never repay their loans in full.

For Masters loans, 32% are expected to never fully repay their loan.

This subsidy is a conscious investment in our young people and the skills capacity, people and economy of this country.

These statistics are publicly available in the student loan forecasts for England publication for the financial year 2025-26 which is available here: Release home - Student loan forecasts for England - Explore education statistics - GOV.UK.

A student’s total loan balance will depend on the number and type of loans taken, the type and length of study, the repayment plan, and how long it has been since entering repayment, as interest accrues over time alongside any income‑contingent or voluntary repayments.

The average amounts paid to borrowers for 1) tuition fee loans, 2) maintenance loans and 3) combined loans since 2013/14 are attached in Annex 1.

The average loan balances by repayment cohort are attached in Annex 2. The amount owed by borrowers in each financial year depends on the year they entered repayment for their loans. These data are not split by loan type, however, in 2024/25, around 89% of students took out both maintenance and tuition fee loans.

A student’s total loan balance will depend on the number and type of loans taken, the type and length of study, the repayment plan, and how long it has been since entering repayment, as interest accrues over time alongside any income‑contingent or voluntary repayments.

The average amounts paid to borrowers for 1) tuition fee loans, 2) maintenance loans and 3) combined loans since 2013/14 are attached in Annex 1.

The average loan balances by repayment cohort are attached in Annex 2. The amount owed by borrowers in each financial year depends on the year they entered repayment for their loans. These data are not split by loan type, however, in 2024/25, around 89% of students took out both maintenance and tuition fee loans.

The government has no plans to implement a graduate tax, but the current loans system has many of the features of one. Income-contingent student loans and grants are an equitable way of funding higher education, as individuals who benefit financially from higher-level study make a fair contribution towards its cost, while lower earners are protected.

The department estimates the government subsidy on student loans issued in any particular financial year via the Resource Accounting and Budgeting (RAB) charge. This is calculated as the present value of student loan outlay less expected future repayments, in accordance with relevant International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and guidance from HMT’s Financial Reporting Manual (FReM). In financial year 2024-25, the RAB charge was £6.2 billion, or 29.6% of the £20.7 billion of student loans issued.

Under the ONS’s methodology for measuring the impact of student loans, what counts to public sector net borrowing and public sector net financial liabilities is the transfer less modified interest – i.e. the portion of the student loan that will not be repaid, less the interest accruing on the portion that will. The forecast transfer portion in 2025-26 for full-time Plan 5 loans is 31%.

The fiscal impact of student loans is measured by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The statistics the ONS publishes are independent, following methodologies designed in consultation with the international statistical community and in line with the European System of Accounts (ESA). The ONS treat student loans partly as loans, since some portion will be repaid, and partly as capital transfers, since some will not. This treatment applies both to tuition fee loans and maintenance loans. Under this partitioned loan-transfer approach, what counts to public sector net borrowing and public sector net financial liabilities is the transfer, less modified interest – the interest accruing on the loan portion.

The UK mainline coastline is 11,073 miles (source Ordnance Survey), increasing to 19,491 miles if larger offshore islands are included. However, the coastline of the UK is fully encompassed by the UK Search and Rescue Region (UK SRR) which HM Coastguard continually monitors for distress and urgency calls.

Total Maritime and Coastguard Agency Resource Budget:

2024/25 £447.7million

2023/24 £416.6million

2022/23 £416.2million

Total Spend on Volunteer Payments

2024/25 £5.7million

2023/24 £5.2million

2022/23 £4.5million

Total spent on Staffing Costs for the last 3 years:

There are approximately 3,000 volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers.

The UK mainline coastline is 11,073 miles (source Ordnance Survey), increasing to 19,491 miles if larger offshore islands are included. However, the coastline of the UK is fully encompassed by the UK Search and Rescue Region (UK SRR) which HM Coastguard continually monitors for distress and urgency calls.

Total Maritime and Coastguard Agency Resource Budget:

2024/25 £447.7million

2023/24 £416.6million

2022/23 £416.2million

Total Spend on Volunteer Payments

2024/25 £5.7million

2023/24 £5.2million

2022/23 £4.5million

Total spent on Staffing Costs for the last 3 years:

There are approximately 3,000 volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers.

The UK mainline coastline is 11,073 miles (source Ordnance Survey), increasing to 19,491 miles if larger offshore islands are included. However, the coastline of the UK is fully encompassed by the UK Search and Rescue Region (UK SRR) which HM Coastguard continually monitors for distress and urgency calls.

Total Maritime and Coastguard Agency Resource Budget:

2024/25 £447.7million

2023/24 £416.6million

2022/23 £416.2million

Total Spend on Volunteer Payments

2024/25 £5.7million

2023/24 £5.2million

2022/23 £4.5million

Total spent on Staffing Costs for the last 3 years:

There are approximately 3,000 volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers.

The UK mainline coastline is 11,073 miles (source Ordnance Survey), increasing to 19,491 miles if larger offshore islands are included. However, the coastline of the UK is fully encompassed by the UK Search and Rescue Region (UK SRR) which HM Coastguard continually monitors for distress and urgency calls.

Total Maritime and Coastguard Agency Resource Budget:

2024/25 £447.7million

2023/24 £416.6million

2022/23 £416.2million

Total Spend on Volunteer Payments

2024/25 £5.7million

2023/24 £5.2million

2022/23 £4.5million

Total spent on Staffing Costs for the last 3 years:

There are approximately 3,000 volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers.

My noble friend is entirely right about all the statistics he quoted. That is why I said that the Maritime Minister is currently considering what needs to be done as a result of what he has heard, what I have heard in this House this afternoon and the other information available in order to make the right judgment about how to proceed.

The fiscal impact of student loans is measured by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The statistics the ONS publishes are independent, following methodologies designed in consultation with the international statistical community and in line with the European System of Accounts.

The ONS treats student loans partly as loans, since some portion will be repaid, and partly as capital transfers, since some will not.

Under this partitioned loan-transfer approach, what counts to public sector net borrowing and public sector net financial liabilities is the transfer less modified interest, the interest accruing on the loan portion.

The fiscal impact of student loans is measured by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The statistics the ONS publishes are independent, following methodologies designed in consultation with the international statistical community and in line with the European System of Accounts.

The ONS treats student loans partly as loans, since some portion will be repaid, and partly as capital transfers, since some will not.

Under this partitioned loan-transfer approach, what counts to public sector net borrowing and public sector net financial liabilities is the transfer less modified interest, the interest accruing on the loan portion.

The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of higher education in England, is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial sustainability. Its most recent report on the sector’s financial health, published in May 2026, found that 35.8 per cent of providers recorded a deficit in 2024/25, an improvement on earlier forecasts of 44.2 per cent, however, deficits alone do not provide a complete picture of financial health

Key financial indicators are also published through the Higher Education Statistics Agency and in providers’ own financial statements

The department does not hold information on the twenty universities with the largest deficits. While the OfS collects provider-level data, it does not routinely rank institutions.

The Office for Students (OfS), the independent regulator of higher education in England, is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial sustainability. Its most recent report on the sector’s financial health, published in May 2026, found that 35.8 per cent of providers recorded a deficit in 2024/25, an improvement on earlier forecasts of 44.2 per cent, however, deficits alone do not provide a complete picture of financial health

Key financial indicators are also published through the Higher Education Statistics Agency and in providers’ own financial statements

The department does not hold information on the twenty universities with the largest deficits. While the OfS collects provider-level data, it does not routinely rank institutions.

My Lords, I acknowledge my noble friend’s criticisms of plan 2 loans, which were designed by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition. Having said that, in principle, a combination of income-contingent student loans and grants is a fair way to ensure that those who benefit from higher education contribute, while lower earners are protected. On the point about the financial sustainability of higher education, our increase of the tuition fee cap is now providing more certainty to higher education about its income from tuition fees, which should enable it to take a longer-term view of its workforce planning and to protect the talent that exists within our higher education institutions. A graduate tax would dramatically increase upfront costs for taxpayers and incentivise graduates to move overseas after completing study. I suspect that these are just a couple of the reasons why no country has ever financed higher education in this way.

My Lords, this Government are taking decisive action to improve the student finance system that we inherited. We are capping interest rates to protect plan 2 and plan 3 borrowers from inflation shocks. We increased the plan 2 repayment threshold twice—its first increases since 2021. We have future-proofed maintenance loans, and we will be reintroducing maintenance grants in 2028. We will continue to look for ways to make the system fairer for students, graduates and taxpayers.