Responding to the Chancellor's comments that the student loan system is fair, Alex Stanley National Union of Students Vice President Higher Education said:
“The student loan system isn’t working for anyone. Not for students who are having to access foodbanks. Not for graduates who are paying back hundreds of pounds a month without touching the sides of the interest on their loans. And not for the Government as student debt is ballooning. Surely Reeves should be looking for a solution rather than doubling down on a broken system?
“Firstly, the Chancellor needs to stop playing politics with students and graduates. In the Autumn budget she effectively added hundreds of pounds to the amount Plan 2 loan holders pay back each year by freezing the thresholds from 2027. We went to university, signed a complex contractual agreement with the Student Loans Company, and now that loan is a political football impacting our bank balances each month.
“Students and graduates are gearing up to be a powerful electoral force. And with the polling in YouGov which finds there is growing support for measures including completely wiping off all student debt, it is time the Chancellor starting looking at the practical solutions which would deliver for student and graduates.
“Anyone who went to University for free should not be able to call the current system fair.”
