Commenting on today’s written student finance announcement from Jo Johnson, Sir Peter Lampl, Chairman of the Sutton Trust and of the Education Endowment Foundation, said:

“Today’s student finance announcement confirms a rise in fees that will add to student debts that we have shown to be by far the highest in the English-speaking world.

“While we welcome moves to improve teaching quality, it is unfair that fees will rise with inflation but the level at which graduates start to repay their loans remains frozen at £21,000. And a real concern is that the removal of maintenance grants will almost certainly deter poorer students, who now face debts of over £50,000 on graduation.

“This announcement also does nothing to address the crisis in mature and part-time students, whose numbers have fallen dramatically since the 2012 fees rise. Adding to their fees and debts can only act as a further deterrent to this important ‘second chance’ route to social mobility.”

NOTES TO EDITORS

  1. Degrees of Debt compared tuition funding arrangements, debt at graduation and earnings outcomes for full-time domestic undergraduates in eight Anglophone countries: the UK (England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland), United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. It found that, for the typical student, average debts are the highest for English students.