Students’ loan debts soar over £100,000

SCORES of students have racked up six-figure debts after taking out huge loans to pay for higher education, official figures show.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) has revealed that 69 students have graduated with debts of more than £100,000 – double the £50,000 that the average graduate owes.

In the past few weeks, senior Labour figures such as Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell have signalled their desire to write off the £120 billion owed by graduates.

While the idea is not party policy and does not appear in Labour’s Election manifesto, Jeremy Corbyn last week branded graduate debt levels ‘unfair and wrong’ and said the issue needed to be addressed.

‘We are looking at what we will do about existing levels of student debt, much of which has not been repaid and in some cases never would be repaid anyway,’ he said.

‘The priority is to end the university fees and to bring back maintenance grants for those who need them.’

The highest levels of student debt are in England and Wales, where students have to pay expensive tuition fees. Currently, more than £16billion is loaned to about a million students in England each year. While the value of outstanding loans is £121billion, this is forecast to rise to £450billion by 2050. The Government expects that just 30 per cent of current full-time undergraduates who take out loans will ever repay them in full. Graduates start repayments only after their earnings exceed a threshold level.

Data from the SLC, issued in response to a Freedom of Information request, reveals that the largest debt owed by a graduate stands at £120,600 – with the highest amount of interest at £23,100. Nine others have debts ranging from £107,100 to £120,000, while a similar number have accrued interest in excess of £20,000.

According to the SLC, these are ‘exceptional cases and not reflective of the average student loan debt’.

It added: ‘Customers may be in receipt of several loan products, starting with an advanced learner loan for a further education course, moving on to higher education funding for an undergraduate course, then a postgraduate masters course, then a doctoral course. Other factors include customers who receive extra years’ funding due to personal reasons.

‘All of the individuals have received student finance in line with the statutory framework applicable to them.’