To ask the Scottish Executive what additional costs will be incurred by the Student Loans Company if tuition fees in England and Wales are deregulated and what effect this will have on Scottish students.

Any costs incurred by the Student Loans Company (SLC) are met on a proportional basis by Her Majesty’s Government and the devolved administrations, based on the numbers of borrowers who were domiciled in each country when they received their loan and value of those loans. Any additional development costs incurred by SLC as a result of policy changes by one administration are generally met by that administration.

While costs incurred by SLC have financial implications for student support budgets they do not have any direct effect on students. Student loan borrowers only begin to repay their loans when they have left full-time education and earn more than the specified income threshold. The amount to be repaid is uprated by inflation to ensure that it is the same, in real terms, as the amount borrowed.