Rising tide of students with debts of £100,000

THE number of former university students saddled with six-figure debts from government loans has risen by more than 500% in just two years.

- By Matthew Davis

There were just 19,239 graduates owing more than £100,000 in student loans in 2023, but this has soared to 97,689 this year.

Among these were 87 people with debts exceeding £200,000. And the new figures from the Student Loans Company show one person owed a staggering £279,066.

With interest as high as 7.3% charged on student loans, this former student’s balance could be increasing by almost £1,700 every month.

Critics of the system say young people are being saddled with debts that they have little to no prospect of ever paying off.

Many do not earn enough for loan payments to be made and the interest added to the debt means the balance can spiral out of control.