Questions and answers

Question reference: S6W-25745

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how many students have defaulted on student loans since 2007 (a) in total and (b) broken down by year.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information . The Student Loans Company (SLC) collects and publishes data on student loan outlays, repayments, and borrower activity for Scottish domiciled SLC customers each year.

Student Loans in Scotland: Financial Year 2022-23 (Table 2 ), provides (i) the number of borrowers with cancellations, write-offs or refunds and (ii) the average amount cancelled, written-off or refunded of borrowers who received loans as Scottish domiciled students studying in the UK or as EU domiciled students studying in Scotland each financial year.

Question reference: S6W-25744

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what assessment it has made of any impact of student debt on the wider economy and society.

The Scottish Government uses Student Loans Company (SLC) statistics to inform a number of workstreams.

The Scottish Government is currently undertaking a Student Finance and Wellbeing Study (SFWS) for Scotland for academic year 23/24 to gather evidence on students’ experiences of finance – their income, expenditure debt and financial wellbeing. This will be used to provide up-to-date data on the financial situation of students in Scotland and provide evidence to inform the delivery of student support policy.

This research is due to be published in a Scottish Government Social Research Report in late summer 2024. Its outputs will inform, together with wider evidence available, future policy development and reform in the student support landscape.

The last study of this type was the Scotland specific Student Income and Expenditure Survey published in 2009 , which examined Scottish-domiciled higher and further education students’ finances, particularly their income, expenditure, debt and savings, and their attitudes to the financing of study in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-25739

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what proportion of students are currently in debt due to student loans.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The Student Loans Company (SLC) collects and publishes data on student loan outlays, repayments, and borrower activity for Scottish SLC customers each year.

Student Loans in Scotland: Financial Year 2022-23 (Table 3) provides (i) the number and (ii) the percentage of borrower who received loans as Scottish domiciled students studying in the UK or as EU domiciled students studying in Scotland by repayment status.

Note: These statistics only include information on loan products and do not include information regarding grants and bursaries which make up part of the student support package offered to students in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-25746

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government when it will fulfil the 2007 Scottish National Party manifesto commitment to abolish student debt.

Our commitment to free tuition means that unlike elsewhere in the UK, Scottish students studying in Scotland do not incur additional debt of up to £27,750, and average student loan debt for Scottish students is the lowest in the UK at around a third of the level seen in England.

In Labour-run Wales, the cap on tuition fees is to rise from £9,000 to £9,250 per year, which will only increase student debt levels.

Question reference: S6W-25740

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government what the total value is of student debt accumulated between 2007 and 2024, broken down by year.

The Scottish Government does not hold this information . The Student Loans Company (SLC) collects and publishes data on student loan outlays, repayments, and borrower activity for Scottish SLC customers each year.

Student Loans in Scotland: Financial Year 2022-23 (Table 1 ) provides the Total amount of Income Contingent Repayment Loan outstanding (including loans not yet due for repayment) at the start of the financial year, including interest, of borrower who received loans as Scottish domiciled students studying in the UK or as EU domiciled students studying in Scotland.

Note: These statistics only include information on loan products and do not include information regarding grants and bursaries which make up part of the student support package offered to students in Scotland.

Question reference: S6W-25743

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Friday, 23 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 8 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on any recent changes or developments in student loan policies and regulations.

We have recently announced that from the start of the 2024-25 academic year we will introduce a Special Support Loan across the main undergraduate and postgraduate packages of support.

The Special Support Loan will be equivalent to £2,400 and will be for the purpose of covering costs related to travel, childcare and study equipment – costs which are disregarded by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) when assessing benefit entitlement. This means that students in higher education who remain entitled to welfare benefits whilst they study can access this additional support without any further reduction in their benefit entitlement.

The student loan repayment threshold will also increase from £27,660 to £31,395 from April this year as per the terms set out in the Repayment of Student Loans (Scotland) Regulations 2000.

Question reference: S6W-25674

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Patrick Harvie on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-07275 by Patrick Harvie on 22 March 2022, whether it will provide an updated table regarding the number of children who have undertaken cycling proficiency training, based on the latest information available.

Further to question S6W-07275, the latest Bikeability Scotland participation statistics are as follows:

LOCAL AUTHORITY	2010-11	2011-12	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Aberdeen City	21%	25%	31%	57%	68%	62%	68%	42%	47%	9%	27%	67%	100%
Aberdeenshire	93%	93%	76%	91%	91%	63%	80%	79%	85%	27%	51%	65%	65%
Angus	74%	72%	74%	57%	43%	45%	50%	67%	78%	41%	71%	88%	94%
Argyll & Bute	45%	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	Pilot	Pilot	22%
Clackmannanshire	11%	11%	37%	37%	39%	44%	17%	33%	100%	33%	100%	100%	100%
Dumfries & Galloway	70%	73%	47%	30%	29%	41%	43%	38%	36%	4%	5%	29%	69%
Dundee	0%	0%	3%	23%	29%	17%	11%	53%	91%	67%	82%	97%	100%
East Ayrshire	7%	9%	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	Pilot	Pilot	10%
East Dunbartonshire	5%	3%	5%	24%	14%	8%	22%	15%	67%	76%	94%	100%	100%
East Lothian	0%	0%	11%	26%	29%	23%	29%	41%	49%	24%	47%	94%	100%
East Renfrewshire	33%	40%	70%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	0%	100%	67%	83%
Edinburgh	29%	40%	52%	72%	70%	48%	68%	60%	53%	7%	26%	40%	41%
Falkirk	4%	6%	10%	8%	22%	12%	4%	6%	8%	19%	6%	2%	21%
Fife	31%	21%	16%	16%	18%	21%	36%	22%	29%	23%	24%	33%	35%
Glasgow	4%	4%	15%	28%	25%	34%	29%	35%	34%	22%	33%	31%	22%
Highland	34%	28%	16%	29%	28%	29%	36%	21%	30%	12%	15%	22%	32%
Inverclyde	4%	21%	35%	10%	30%	30%	20%	15%	26%	0%	5%	5%	10%
Midlothian	10%	40%	63%	87%	63%	63%	81%	75%	69%	22%	41%	65%	67%
Moray	96%	65%	58%	47%	62%	49%	37%	40%	56%	27%	62%	76%	93%
Na h-Eileanan Siar	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	0%	5%	96%	100%	0%	100%	100%	100%
North Ayrshire	0%	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return	No return
North Lanarkshire	0%	7%	5%	0%	4%	No return	9%	10%	11%	15%	29%	50%	82%
Orkney	40%	40%	65%	95%	90%	65%	68%	63%	58%	37%	90%	65%	100%
Perth & Kinross	91%	61%	40%	37%	34%	62%	52%	51%	61%	26%	67%	87%	90%
Renfrewshire	6%	8%	22%	29%	20%	22%	20%	22%	29%	10%	59%	72%	84%
Scottish Borders	54%	54%	43%	8%	27%	29%	31%	31%	8%	2%	25%	41%	100%
Shetland	100%	53%	45%	90%	100%	100%	100%	100%	100%	25%	100%	100%	100%
South Ayrshire	79%	55%	73%	76%	83%	76%	81%	83%	88%	44%	34%	41%	59%
South Lanarkshire	0%	10%	17%	28%	39%	34%	39%	39%	43%	15%	10%	40%	40%
Stirling	17%	18%	5%	43%	65%	68%	50%	72%	66%	26%	58%	74%	87%
West Dunbartonshire	9%	12%	9%	21%	44%	41%	49%	56%	59%	13%	38%	28%	31%
West Lothian	21%	0%	15%	15%	15%	15%	17%	11%	26%	9%	9%	22%	30%
TOTALS	32%	32%	35%	37%	40%	38%	42%	42%	47%	20%	37%	50%	60%

	2012-13	2013-14	2014-15	2015-16	2016-17	2017-18	2018-19	2019-20	2020-21	2021-22	2022-23
Number of pupils trained across all levels of Bikeability Scotland	25,974	30,800	32,105	33,082	36,711	36,314	43,700	16,327	41,046	52,604	60,228

Question reference: S6W-25681

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide a timeline for the implementation of the key actions in its International Education Strategy.

Question reference: S6W-25680

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how it will engage with stakeholders, including educational institutions, industry partners and international organisations, in order to implement its International Education Strategy effectively.

Continuing the collaborative approach to developing the International Education Strategy (IES) the Scottish Government will establish an Implementation Group to oversee its implementation, with representation from partners across the sector. This Group will provide leadership and strategic oversight and ensure the strategy’s actions are delivering our shared ambitions for international higher education.

Question reference: S6W-25679

Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
Date lodged: Thursday, 22 February 2024
Current Status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 7 March 2024

To ask the Scottish Government how its International Education Strategy will facilitate the recognition of Scottish qualifications and degrees internationally.

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