NUS UK has called the figures an “indictment” of the student funding system
Today, the BBC has revealed that the highest outstanding student debt in the UK is more than £230,000, and the largest repayment a graduate has made tops £110,000, with another loan holder accumulating interest alone of nearly £55,000.
The data was released by the Student Loans Company (SLC) following a BBC Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
SLC says graduates in England leave university with average debts of £44,940.
This follows a report from the Sutton Trust yesterday, which showed that the student maintenance loan system discourages working class people from going to university.
Commenting, NUS UK Vice President Higher Education, Chloe Field, said:
“These figures are an indictment of our education system. The UK cannot pretend that university is accessible to everyone when there is the possibility of students incurring over £200,000 worth of debt.
“Student debt discourages people from working class backgrounds from going to university, no matter how much they may thrive there or how much they want to go.
“Education is a human right, it should be equally available to everyone throughout their lives, including for people who want to retrain later in life.
“People are only eligible for student loans once, this means that if someone wanted to retrain later in life they would have to pay their student debt in full.
“The only viable solution is to create a higher education system which is fully funded and free at the point of use.”
