In 2020, the UK recorded its largest intake of first-year university students only to be hit with an increase the following year. As a result, universities and students alike have been battling with increased demand for housing amidst a cost-of-living crisis. Justin Adesina, IF student volunteer, investigates.
Category: Student Debt
How to improve student loan repayment terms for graduates
The student loan system is broken. For the crime of pursuing a higher education, many graduates in England face an additional 9% marginal tax for most of their working lives. Alec Haglund, IF Researcher, discusses IF analysis of the best ways to lower the debt burden for graduates.
Student loans – it’s the economy stupid
In this article, IF supporter and father, Philip Yorke, argues that the student loan system affects the whole economy, and by looking forward a generation it is obvious how untenable this funding method will become.
Higher education is an investment, not a revenue stream
Look to Canada. IF researcher, Sylvan Lutz, argues that England is hurting its economic and social potential by treating students as a revenue source and not as an investment in the country’s future.
Graduation ceremonies are stalked by the ghost of student debt
Having recently attended graduation ceremonies at three universities, IF Co-Founder Angus Hanton has been struck by a streak of very British reserve that ran through all of them and that is the willingness of higher education institutions to take large sums of money from students without a single mention of money, fees, pay or student… Read more »
A-Level Day for Generation COVID
Hundreds of thousands of students have received their A-Level grades having navigated another year of educational disruption thanks to COVID-19-related government policy. Liz Emerson, IF Co-founder, looks at the numbers and calls for more financial government support for higher education students. Two-thirds of students make grades Two-thirds of students will gain entry to their first… Read more »
Feeding off students, yet again
In a week full of news, the government slipped out the announcement that student loan interest rates will be capped. That might sound like good news for students, but as Liz Emerson, IF co-founder explains, the young will be paying back much more than ever before, and for longer. The cap The retail price index… Read more »
Regressive student finance plans will punish low and middle earners the most
The upcoming changes to the student loan system is yet another stealth tax on young people, which will hit middle-income and low-income graduates the hardest. In the press release, the government argues that these changes will ensure that the problem is not “passed on to future generations”, but the reality is quite the opposite. In… Read more »
Graduate tax grab by stealth
Graduates have been slapped with an increase to Plan 2 and postgraduate student loan repayments by stealth, which could cost an average earning graduate an additional £110 per year, writes IF volunteer Alana McSkimming Freezing the threshold The Government has announced plans to freeze the student loan repayment threshold. Although this may elicit a sigh… Read more »
Two years of COVID-19: the pandemic, young people and what next?
Almost two years have passed since COVID-19 was declared a public health emergency by the WHO. IF’s digital campaigns officer Liam Hill analyses how the pandemic, the lockdowns and other restrictions have affected young people in the UK, and asks what can be done to address the issues they face. Two years of turmoil It… Read more »