The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) is being urged to launch an investigation into the current student loan system to find out whether it provides value for money for both students and taxpayers. Set up to investigate the impact of changes to university tuition fees and loans in England three years ago, the Independent Commission on Fees (ICF) published its latest report which warned the Government to be wary about increasing tuition fees – or removing the cap on them completely.
Included in the reports findings were:
- Some progress, but persistent WP under-representation.
- Alarming fall in number of part-time students
- Startling gender gap.