‘Missing’ EU graduates owe £89m in student loans

RECORD numbers of graduates from the European Union are avoiding paying back thousands of pounds each in British taxpayer-funded student loans by disappearing abroad.

The Student Loans Company has lost track of 12,314 EU students who took a degree at a British university and then left the country.

They owe a total of £89million, or an average of £7,000 each. The data, released under the Freedom of Information Act, shows the number has risen steadily since 2010, when 5,000 were missing from the books owing £25million.

Students from the EU have been able to take out British taxpayerfunded tuition fee loans to attend university here since 2006. For all graduates who work in the UK,

‘Eye-watering sums written off’

repayments are automatically deducted from their salaries. But those who go overseas are asked to make payments voluntarily by setting up a direct debit.

Harry Davis, of The TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: ‘Taxpayers will be deeply concerned to see such eye-watering sums of money just written off. The SLC has to get a handle on its processes.’

EU students make up around 5 per cent of current undergraduates, but account for 30 per cent of 38,000 graduates not repaying loans after going abroad.

But record numbers of British graduates have also vanished off the books after leaving the country. The number has doubled since 2010 from 13,000 to 26,000, with the total owed rising from £147million to £367million. Officials believe many are working in Australia.

The Government is trying to set up systems with other countries to track down missing graduates.

An SLC spokesman said: ‘The vast majority of borrowers meet the repayment terms. SLC is committed to recovering every penny of taxpayer monies owed.’

It is feared the problem will only get worse as more students come from abroad. Last year the number of EU students accepted at English universities rose by 11 per cent.