Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced on 24 April 2018 that it would review the treatment of student loans in the UK government’s accounts. This is to ensure that the way these loans are treated reflects how the system works in practice as well as being in line with international best practice. This review followed recommendations from both the Treasury Select Committee and the House of Lords Economic Affairs Committee (PDF, 1.6MB).

ONS will announce its decision on how these loans will be treated on 17 December 2018. However, it is anticipated that implementation of this decision into its headline statistics will take some time and that any change will be reflected in the public sector finances by the end of 2019.

Further information on the review can be found in the July Developments in Public Sector Finances article.