According to data obtained by BBC News, almost 1.8 million people in the UK are currently in at least £50,000 of student debt. Among these, more than 61,000 have balances over £100,000, whilst another 50 people each owe more than £200,000. The highest debt that the Student Loans Company is aware of now exceeds £250,000. Increased interest charges are the main reason for the increase in outstanding debt. In April 2021, the average balance for loan holders in England starting repayments was £48,470.
Balances for those studying multiple or lengthy courses can be significantly higher than those in single courses. Despite this, the National Union of Students argued that it was “ridiculous” that student finance reform had not featured significantly in any of the UK’s main political party’s election campaign.
With tuition fees being tripled in England over a decade ago, fees now cost a maximum of £9,250 per year and are written off at the end of loan terms, often after 30 years. It is unclear if the latest known loan at £252,000 is under the same scheme as the previous highest debt of £231,000, which was reported in March.
Ben Waltmann from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has suggested that many people who borrowed the higher sums under the Plan 2 scheme were unlikely to pay the complete amount back. It is unknown how this amount will affect graduates’ lives, though Claire Callender, deputy director of the Centre for Global Higher Education, stated that borrowing such high amounts is “likely to have a negative impact on graduates’ lives.”
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