Money Box Live: Student Loan Debate

Student loans and their impact on graduates’ finances have dominated the news recently. The average student debt in England for 2024 graduates was approximately £53,000, with repayments being made when salaries hit a certain threshold set by the government. But, the finer details on who gets what and how it's all repaid varies vastly depending on when and where students study. Rules also differ vastly across the UK. Recent campaigns have highlighted 'Plan 2' loans which focused on students in England who studied between September 2012 and July 2023 and the Chancellor's decision to freeze the salary threshold for repayments on these loans for three years, which means some graduates will now have to pay even more. In this episode we'll discuss the rules for current students, past graduates, as well as how maintenance loans are worked out and what support might be available. Joining Felicity Hannah is Tom Allingham from student money website, Save the Student and Graham Wright from the University of the West of England Bristol and National Association of Money Advisors. Presenter: Felicity Hannah Producer: Sarah Rogers Editor: Jess Quayle Senior Editor: Sara Wadeson (This episode was first broadcast on Wednesday the 4th of February 2026)

You can listen to Money Box Live: Student Loan Debate online on Radio and Podcast. Open the player on this page to stream the available audio.

Money Box Live: Student Loan Debate is an episode from Money Box by BBC.

This episode is 28:28 long.

This episode was published on Mar 4, 2026.

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