‘Few thousand’ will initially benefit from lifelong loan entitlement

Minister expects numbers growth but concedes it is ‘hard to know’ what uptake will be

Just a “few thousand” people are expected to initially benefit from the government’s lifelong loan entitlement, the minister for skills, apprenticeships and higher education has said.

Appearing before the Westminster education committee on 14 March, Robert Halfon (pictured) was asked what market research had been conducted to establish an estimated uptake of the loans. Under the reforms, which are currently passing through parliament, all adults would be able to access the student finance system to fund the equivalent of four years of study.