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+--- Thread: Student Loans (/showthread.php?tid=40518)
RE: Student Loans - Protheroe - 02-08-2026
(02-08-2026, 08:03 PM)Birdman1811 Wrote: I owe 56K, I pay less than the interest every year, so it can never, ever be paid off, and that's while earning just short of 50k a year.
What a way to treat the kids. Seriously.
RE: Student Loans - tHEgLASSdOORS - 02-08-2026
Christ that bloke paying nearly £900 a month!
I’d move overseas and disappear from the radar if that was the level of rope around my neck.
Mental
RE: Student Loans - man in the corner shop - 02-08-2026
It should be a scandal of national shame that successive governments have done this to our yoof. Add to that most young uns starting out will have little chance of owning a home.
Worst of all, the general public have sat idly by and allowed it to happen.
Shameful.
RE: Student Loans - SW4Baggie - 02-10-2026
Education should be free - end of story - or at the very least, your first degree up to Masters level should be.
RE: Student Loans - man in the corner shop - 02-10-2026
(02-10-2026, 08:53 AM)SW4Baggie Wrote: Education should be free - end of story - or at the very least, your first degree up to Masters level should be.
100% agree.
It was for me. And I don't think that the drawbridge should have been pulled up.
RE: Student Loans - Fido - 02-10-2026
(02-10-2026, 01:56 PM)man in the corner shop Wrote:(02-10-2026, 08:53 AM)SW4Baggie Wrote: Education should be free - end of story - or at the very least, your first degree up to Masters level should be.
100% agree.
It was for me. And I don't think that the drawbridge should have been pulled up.
What percentage of school leavers went to university when you went to school and what percentage go to university now? I finished my A-levels in 1990 and if I were to have a rough guess of the 150-180 kids that were in the 5th form that maybe 10 or 15% tops went on to uni. We can't escape the scale of expenditure, it's just a case of how you think it should be funded.
RE: Student Loans - baggy1 - 02-10-2026
There is a reality in that Fido that doesn't get mentioned very often - 271k in 1994 compared with 578k in 2025. https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-7857/CBP-7857.pdf
Does the scale of funding needed for the 115% increase in numbers change anyone's views?
RE: Student Loans - strawman - 02-10-2026
(02-10-2026, 02:25 PM)Fido Wrote:(02-10-2026, 01:56 PM)man in the corner shop Wrote:(02-10-2026, 08:53 AM)SW4Baggie Wrote: Education should be free - end of story - or at the very least, your first degree up to Masters level should be.
100% agree.
It was for me. And I don't think that the drawbridge should have been pulled up.
What percentage of school leavers went to university when you went to school and what percentage go to university now? I finished my A-levels in 1990 and if I were to have a rough guess of the 150-180 kids that were in the 5th form that maybe 10 or 15% tops went on to uni. We can't escape the scale of expenditure, it's just a case of how you think it should be funded.
Approx % of students who went on to Uni
1960s 4-5%.
1970s 8-14%
1980s 14-19%
1990s 19-30%
Since - about 50%
RE: Student Loans - Protheroe - 02-10-2026
The reality is that the vast majority of careers don't need a degree education.
Labour extended university education simply to make sure kids stayed off the unemployment register. There's nowhere near enough demand for the number of law graduates each year let alone the thousands of psychology, criminology or "business studies" graduates, It's misselling of the highest order.
RE: Student Loans - man in the corner shop - 02-10-2026
(02-10-2026, 02:25 PM)Fido Wrote:(02-10-2026, 01:56 PM)man in the corner shop Wrote:(02-10-2026, 08:53 AM)SW4Baggie Wrote: Education should be free - end of story - or at the very least, your first degree up to Masters level should be.
100% agree.
It was for me. And I don't think that the drawbridge should have been pulled up.
What percentage of school leavers went to university when you went to school and what percentage go to university now? I finished my A-levels in 1990 and if I were to have a rough guess of the 150-180 kids that were in the 5th form that maybe 10 or 15% tops went on to uni. We can't escape the scale of expenditure, it's just a case of how you think it should be funded.
Yes that has to be factored in.
Also not every single course offered by Unis should be funded in my fantasy land. I know that this would be a very subjective issue. I recall a degree from my time in "Equine studies". Also recently, Disney studies. If you wanna do that, pay for it yourself would be my attitude but I am sure that other people could make a convincing case that these are relevant and useful.
Maybe a NICE equivalent for state funding of a Uni Course. If it's not on the list, pay for it yourself. I appreciate that this is a slippery slope though and drawing a line wouldn't be easy or even, perhaps, fair.