Guidance

Annual Statistical Work Programme 2025 - 2027

Updated 11 August 2026

Introduction

Student Loans Company (SLC) routinely publishes statistics on a range of topics related to student finance across the UK.

Our statistical outputs include annual accredited official statistics, alongside quarterly and annual statistical publications that are not currently accredited official statistics. Further information, including links to all routine publications and our statistics release calendar, is available on the SLC Statistics page on GOV.UK.

We are committed to continuously improving the way we produce, analyse and disseminate statistics, ensuring users have access to trustworthy, high-quality and valuable insights. This work is guided by the principles and standards set out in the UK Statistics Authority’s Code of Practice for Statistics.

This work programme outlines the developments delivered during 2026, together with our current priorities and planned improvements for 2027.

Publishing this programme forms part of our commitment to transparency and helps users understand the work underway to enhance our statistical outputs. It also supports our commitment to complying with the Code of Practice for Statistics and engaging openly with our users about planned developments.

Our development work in 2025

As part of the annual review of our ‘Student Support’ publication series (November release), we identified that student eligibility population estimates previously supplied by the Department for Education (DfE), the Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Government were no longer available due to data limitations arising from the introduction of the HESA Data Futures model.

As these estimates formed part of the calculation of our published estimated student finance take-up rates, we were no longer able to produce these figures to the required standard of quality and reliability.

Consequently, the associated take-up rate tables were removed from the publication series (listed below). This decision reflects our commitment to ensuring that our published statistics continue to meet appropriate quality standards. Further information is available in the user consultation published on GOV.UK.

Removed tables:

• Student Support in England - Table 3A (ii) and Table 3B (ii)
• Student Support in Wales - Table 3A (ii), Table 3B (ii) and Table 3C (ii)
• Student Support in Northern Ireland - Table 3A (ii))

Our development work in 2026

During 2026, we continued our programme of improvements to strengthen the quality, accessibility and value of our statistical publications. Key developments included:

1. Enhancements to statistical production processes and quality assurance procedures to improve the robustness and consistency of outputs.
2. Minor methodological changes to a number of statistical publications following the scheduled deletion of customer records in line with records management and data protection requirements.
3. A review and update of the SLC Statistics: Policies and Procedures framework to align with Edition 3.0 of the Code of Practice for Statistics.

1. Automation of ‘Student Loans’ publication

During 2026, we developed an automated production process for our ‘Student Loans’ publications (June release). The automation was designed to improve efficiency and strengthen quality assurance of the publication process by reducing the amount of manual processing required.

Before implementation, the automated process was extensively tested against the existing production methodology. Outputs produced through the automated process were compared with those generated through the established manual compilation process, with results demonstrating consistency across all key measures and outputs. This testing provided assurance that the automation produces accurate and reliable results while maintaining the quality standards expected of SLC’s statistical publications.

Following the successful completion of testing and validation, the automated process is expected to be adopted as the primary production method for future editions of the publication from 2027 onwards. The new approach will reduce production time, improve consistency and enable greater focus on analysis, quality assurance and continuous improvement activities.

Building on the successful implementation and testing of the ‘Student Loans’ automation, we intend to apply a similar approach to the ‘Student Support’ publications scheduled for release in November 2026. Development work is already underway, and we will undertake the same programme of testing and validation to ensure that outputs produced through the automated process are consistent with those generated using the current production methodology. Subject to successful testing, this will further improve the efficiency, consistency and quality of our statistical production processes.

2. Impact of Customer Record Deletion on Statistics

In December 2025, the Student Loans Company (SLC) deleted approximately 1.85 million customer account records in line with its Records Management Policy, Master Retention Schedule and obligations under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR). The records related to customer accounts that had been fully settled and for which more than six years had passed since the customer’s final repayment.

As a result of this scheduled records management activity, some statistical publications containing refreshed figures for academic year 2019/20 and earlier, and financial year 2019-20 and earlier, were affected. To maintain the accuracy, consistency and comparability of published statistics, a number of minor methodological changes were implemented across affected publications.

Publication: Over-repayment of Income Contingent Loans through PAYE - Financial Years 2015-16 to 2024-25

Release date: 20 March 2026

The deletion of the eligible customer records affected certain historic measures presented within Figures 1 and 2 of the publication.

To preserve the integrity of the historical time series:

• The Total Over-repaid Amount, Number of Customers and Average Over-repayment figures for financial years 2015-16 to 2019-20 were reinstated using values published in the March 2025 version of this publication (prior to the record deletion exercise).
• As there is no material difference between these historic values and the underlying position they represent, the reinstated figures continue to provide an accurate reflection of over-repayments during the affected years.
• This approach maintains consistency with previously published statistics and ensures that long-term trends remain robust and comparable over time.

Figures relating to pending refunds were not affected by the deletion of customer records. These figures continue to be refreshed annually as part of the standard publication process, ensuring that users have access to the most up-to-date information while maintaining continuity with previous releases.

Publications:

- Student Loans in England 2025-26

- Student Loans in Wales 2025-26

- Student Loans in Northern Ireland 2025-26

- Student Loans in Scotland 2025-26

Release date: 18 June 2026

A number of changes were made to these publications to ensure that the statistics remained representative of the population in scope following the deletion of fully settled customer records.

Table 3 – Borrowers with a Loan Balance by Repayment Cohort and Repayment Status

The ‘Account Closed / Cancelled’ column was removed from Table 3.

Following the deletion of eligible fully settled customer records, figures previously reported within this column no longer represented the full population of borrowers who had repaid or otherwise had their accounts closed. Retaining the category would therefore have reduced the accuracy and interpretability of the statistics.

The table has been revised to present only borrowers with an outstanding loan balance, ensuring that the statistics remain representative of the populations being measured.

Removing the ‘Account Closed / Cancelled’ category did not affect the borrower counts shown in the remaining repayment status categories. However, it did affect the percentage distributions presented in the accompanying table. Previously, borrowers with closed accounts formed part of the total used to calculate repayment status percentages. Following the removal of this category, percentages are now calculated using only borrowers with an outstanding loan balance. As a result, the proportion represented by each remaining repayment status has increased. This reflects the revised population in scope rather than any change in borrower behaviour or repayment outcomes.

Table 4 – Borrowers Making Repayments by Repayment Cohort and Financial Year

For financial years up to and including 2018-19, borrower repayment figures were reinstated from the 2025 edition of the publication and will continue to be included in future releases.

As there has been no material change to the historic figures concerned, the reinstated values continue to provide an accurate representation of borrower repayment activity during those years. Retaining these previously published figures helps preserve the integrity and comparability of the historical time series, which would otherwise become progressively less representative following the deletion of eligible fully settled customer records.

The latest rolling seven-year period will continue to be refreshed annually to ensure that the publication reflects the most recent repayment trends.

Table 5 – Borrowers with a Loan Balance by Repayment Cohort and Financial Year

Figures for financial years up to and including 2018-19 were also reinstated from the 2025 edition of the publication and will continue to be carried forward in future releases.

As with Table 4, this approach preserves the consistency and comparability of the historical series following the deletion of eligible fully settled customer records. The reinstated figures continue to provide an accurate representation of borrower numbers, outstanding balances and average loan balances for the affected years, while ensuring that users can continue to make meaningful comparisons across the full time series.

3) During 2026, SLC also commenced a review of the Policies and Procedures page on GOV.UK following the publication of Edition 3.0 of the Code of Practice for Statistics.

This work includes:

• Reviewing existing statistical policies and supporting documentation.
• Updating content where necessary to reflect current practices and requirements.
• Developing and publishing additional documentation where appropriate.
• Ensuring that SLC continues to demonstrate compliance with the principles and standards set out in the Code of Practice for Statistics.

This programme of work supports SLC’s ongoing commitment to transparency, continuous improvement and public confidence in its statistical outputs.

Priorities for 2027

The priorities set out below reflect our planned areas of focus at the time of publication. However, we remain responsive to emerging user needs, business priorities and developments in the wider statistical landscape. As a result, our plans may evolve during the year. Any significant changes will be reviewed and reported in the next edition of this work programme.

Enhancing the ‘Student Loans’ publication series (June release).

During 2027, we will investigate the feasibility of introducing a new table within the ‘Student Loans’ publications to provide additional insight into borrower movements throughout the financial year.

The proposed table would present:

• Number of borrowers with an outstanding loan balance at the start of the financial year
• Number of borrowers who fully repaid their loans during the financial year*
• Number of new borrowers added during the financial year
• Number of borrowers with an outstanding loan balance at the end of the financial year

*This methodology may be slightly refined following further assessment of available data sources.

This development is intended to provide users with a clearer understanding of changes in the borrower population over time, including how the overall borrower population changes throughout the financial year as borrowers are added to and leave the loan portfolio.

For the England and Wales publications, the proposed table would present figures by loan Plan type, alongside an overall borrower total. As some borrowers hold loans across multiple Plan types, Plan-level figures cannot be summed to derive an overall total without double counting. Therefore, the overall total would be calculated separately using unique borrower counts.

For the Northern Ireland and Scotland publications, where borrowers are associated with a single Plan type, the table would present overall borrower totals only.

Subject to data availability and successful quality assurance, we aim to backdate the new series to financial year 2019-20 (post eligible customer account deletion).

The recent removal of the Account Closed/Cancelled column from Table 3 of the Student Loans publications created a gap in the information available on borrower account closures. The proposed new table would provide an opportunity to continue reporting on borrowers who leave the loan portfolio through full repayment / cancellation.

As with all planned developments, implementation will be subject to feasibility assessment and data quality considerations. We will provide further updates on progress through future statistical publications and work programme updates.

Feedback

We welcome feedback on this work programme and on any of our statistical publications. User feedback plays an important role in helping us improve our outputs and ensure they continue to meet the needs of a wide range of audiences.

If you have comments, suggestions or questions, please contact the SLC Statistics Team at enterprise_data_analytics@slc.co.uk