Freshers starting university this autumn face eye-watering interest of 4.6% on their student loans — meaning it will take many years for them to pay off their debts.

The interest rate, which rises from 3.9% next month, comes at a time when Bank rate is just 0.25% and inflation is 0.6%.

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Sir Peter Lampl, chairman of the Sutton Trust, a charity that encourages social mobility, told Money: “This increase [in interest rate] only adds to graduate debt, and students face these higher rates from the day they start their course. Graduates of English universities already face by far the highest level of debt in the English-speaking world.”

Read his full report here. (£)

Sutton Trust data was also cited by Rebecca Myers in a companion piece entitled I’m throwing a debt-free party — in 22 years’ time.