To ask the Minister for the Economy, given that, compared to English and Welsh postgraduate students, Northern Irish postgraduate students have access to only 50 per cent of the tuition loans, and have no access to living support loans, while paying the same fees, whether her Department plans to address this inequality and review the current postgraduate loan system.

I can confirm that I do intend to examine this issue.

The Department’s proposed Postgraduate Loan Review is a complex piece of work comprising different strands of the postgraduate funding system in Northern Ireland. It is anticipated that the appropriateness of the current postgraduate fee loan of up to £5,500 towards the cost of taught postgraduate courses, will be reviewed alongside a range of potential options for maintenance loans or grants. Separate from that, there will be a review of the Postgraduate Awards Scheme.

It is anticipated that a public consultation on the Postgraduate Loan Review, comprising the different options for fee loans and maintenance provision, will be published shortly. However, you will appreciate that the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic for higher education are currently taking priority.

With respect to a date of implementation for any approved policy changes following the consultation, this will be dependent on the ability of the Student Loans Company to implement any policy changes.