Question reference: S6W-25742
- Asked by: Martin Whitfield, MSP for South Scotland, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 26 February 2024
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Current status: Answered by Graeme Dey on 9 March 2024
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what information it holds on any trends in student debt borrowing patterns and repayment rates, including in relation to missed payments and the collection rate of payments.
Answer
The Scottish Government does not hold this information. The Student Loan Company (SLC) collects and publishes data on student loan outlays, repayments, and borrower activity for Scottish SLC customers each year.
This includes information on the total student Income Contingent Repayment (ICR) loan [1] outlay each financial year, the average loan balance of borrowers, borrower repayment status, repayment amounts, and average repayment amount by repayment method. All of which can be found in the Student Loans for Higher Education in Scotland: Financial Year 2022-23 publication.
SLC does not publish information on missed payments, nor on the collection rate of repayments.
[1] Loans for which the required repayments are based on the borrower’s income.