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<p>As in previous years, the allocated budget for Resource Allocation Budget (RAB)
expenditure was published in the DfE Annual Report and Accounts 2017/18, which can
be accessed here: <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-consolidated-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/dfe-consolidated-annual-report-and-accounts-2017-to-2018</a>
. The budget for RAB expenditure is part of the depreciation figure and is shown as
c.£3.9 billion for 2018/19 and c.£4.3 billion in 2019/20.</p><p> </p><p>The 2018/19
budget and future budgets will be reviewed as part of the annual estimates process
and confirmed in the published estimates documents. No budget has been allocated for
2020-21, this will be agreed as part of the next spending review.</p><p> </p><p>This
follows the department’s statistical release on student loan forecasts published on
28 June 2018, which showed the RAB charge for higher education loans is expected to
be 45% under the new policy: <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/719817/Student_loan_forecasts_2017-18.pdf"
target="_blank">https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/719817/Student_loan_forecasts_2017-18.pdf</a></p><p>
</p><p>The cost of the system is a conscious investment in young people and required
to make higher and further education widely available, achieving the government’s
objectives of increasing the skills in the economy and ensuring access to university
for all with the potential to benefit. We have added to that investment recently by
freezing tuition fees for academic years 2018/19 and 2019/20, and raising the repayment
threshold from £21,000 to £25,000 for the financial year 2018/19.</p><p> </p>
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