The student loan book is disguising the real size of the national debt April 1, 2026 The market value of the student loan book is approximately £33bn lower than official government accounts suggest. As a result, our national debt is higher than we’re being told – disguised by billions in loans that are much less valuable than they appear, says Sebastian Charleton Britain’s young are the most educated generation in our [...]
Tories pledge to cut ‘eyewatering’ interest on some student loans February 22, 2026 The Conservative party has pledged to slash some of the interest paid on student loans issued up until 2023 amid growing opposition around the crippling amount of student debt. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the Plan 2 loans system – which around 5.8 million took out loans under between 2012 and 2023 – “increasingly feels [...]
The many ways the system is failing graduates like me February 19, 2026 Graduates are facing a two-pronged attack from a shrinking jobs market and an expanding welfare state that actively incentivises us to live off benefits, says Oliver Dean In recent weeks, the graduate crisis has garnered significant attention. As someone set to graduate this summer, I am in the same boat as hundreds of thousands of [...]
A university education is no longer good value for money February 18, 2026 Students have been turned into customers but the product they’re buying is worthless and it’s underwritten by the taxpayer, says Paul Ormerod The plight of graduates burdened with debt has been a prominent feature in the media over the past week or so. Hundreds of thousands will never earn enough to repay their student borrowings, [...]
The Debate: Should student loan debt be forgiven? February 4, 2026 Student loans are under the spotlight, with those who took out plans between 2012 and 2023 feeling the bite. Should student debt (or some of it) be forgiven?
The graduate crisis: hundreds of thousands sign on to welfare January 27, 2026 The myth is surely shattered; university is not a springboard into the future and a degree does not guarantee you a job. New analysis reveals that over 700,000 university graduates are out of work and claiming benefits. The Centre for Social Justice (CSJ), which studied data from the Labour Force Survey and the Department for [...]
Don’t believe Starmer’s spin on skills October 9, 2025 Keir Starmer has abandoned the target of sending 50 per cent of young people to university, but he risks extending the worst failings of universities into further education, says Iain Mansfield Last week, to great fanfare, Keir Starmer tore up Tony Blair’s target of sending 50 per cent of young people to university. He is [...]
University funding crisis spreads to wider economy September 16, 2025 UK universities are facing mounting funding crisis that is affecting the country’s wider economy – with regions like Wales and the North East more at risk. According to new analysis from Oxford Economics, universities added £80bn in gross value added (GVA) to the economy and supported 1.2m jobs in 2024, including staff directly employed by [...]
University students lack basic financial knowledge, research finds September 9, 2025 Incoming university students lack basic understanding and knowledge of personal finance, leaving them at risk of running out of money, new research has found. Nearly 50 per cent of young adults felt stressed about their financial situation ahead of starting Higher Education, while four in ten didn’t feel at all prepared financially, according to retail [...]
Employers say university degrees ‘not essential’ in results day boost August 14, 2025 The majority of employers believe university degrees are not essential for success in entry-level roles as A-level students are brimming with confidence despite a tough jobs market, fresh polling has suggested. In a boost for young people not attending university after results day, a survey by the jobs platform Indeed has suggested that 68 per [...]