Liam Byrne – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Liam Byrne on 2014-06-16.

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, pursuant to the written statement of 16 June 2014, Official Report, columns 70-1WS, on student support in England, how many of the students who were unable to or chose not to provide adequate evidence of residency were studying at an alternative provider with designated courses; at which provider they were studying; for what qualifications they were registered; and on what basis his Department calculated that £65 million was due to be paid to 1,333 students.

Mr David Willetts

The number of students who were unable to or chose not to provide adequate evidence of residency who were studying at an alternative provider with designated courses and providers at which they were studying, was included in the data set placed in the libraries of the House to accompany the Written Ministerial Statement on Monday 16 June 2014.

A breakdown of the courses these students are studying is data that is not held in the form requested. I have asked the Student Loans Company to compile this data and I will place a copy in the libraries of the House as soon as it is available.

The £65m figure given in the Written Ministerial Statement is the amount of student support that would have been paid in relation to the 5,548 students deemed to be ineligible following the residency checking exercise. It was calculated using actual awards for students who had approved applications and average award amounts for students whose applications had not reached the approval stage at the time payments were suspended.