Sutton Trust’s recent report, Fairer Fees, is mentioned in an interview with Lord Willetts by Harry Yorke for The Sunday Telegraph. 

Lord Willetts, the architect behind the trebling of tuition fees, is no stranger to facing down fierce opposition. But in recent months the former Universities Minister has unexpectedly found his landmark reforms to higher education at risk of unravelling.

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Research published last week by the Sutton Trust also revealed that with the average student now graduating with £50,000 of debt, 81 per cent of graduates will never pay back their loans if the repayment threshold is raised as planned.

There has been mounting pressure on ministers to change the interest rate mechanism, which critics have dubbed a “stealth tax” because it is adjusted retrospectively.

As concerned as he is by Labour’s surge in the polls, Lord Willetts is apprehensive about proposals being floated by his own party. They include the plans to raise the salary threshold on which graduates begin making repayments from £21,000 to £25,000 and a review into whether to slash fees.

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You can read the full article here.