‘This government parrots the language of levelling up, but these proposals are classist, ableist and racist: they target those from marginalised communities, and seek to gatekeep education.’

Concerns have been raised by multiple organisations, experts and leaders, that the shake-up to university finance will be detrimental to disadvantaged students while top-earning graduates will pay less.

An overhaul to the student finance system will see the period before student loans are written off extended from the existing 30 years to 40 years.

Graduates will be paying fees into their 60s

The proposals, which have been likened to a “working-life-long graduate tax”, will mean graduates will be paying university fees into their 60s.

The government’s reasoning for the reform is that it would ensure a greater number of student loans are paid back, thereby reducing the burden on taxpayers.

The threshold at which graduates will have to pay back loans is also to be reformed, cut from the current £27,295 to £25,000. The changes would be enforced on students starting university course in September 2023.

The reforms will result in graduates on lower incomes having to repay their loans earlier and for a longer duration.

They come alongside a wider shake-up of university debt, which throws out the recommendation in the Augur Review – a detailed analysis of the post-18 education sector – to slash annual tuition fees from £9,250 to £7,500 due to concerns that high debt acts as a deterrent to youngsters from poorer households going to university.

Rather than cutting tuition fees, charges will be frozen.

The reform package will also mean students are unable to take out loans and prevent teenagers from attending university if they fail to obtain strong GCSE and A-level grades.  Proposals for the reintroduction of maintenance grants, which provided financial assistance to poorer students but we’re scrapped in the 2015 Budget, have also been dropped.

The proposals have been widely condemned by the opposition, economists and university groups, with concerns voiced that they will adversely impact poorer students while benefitting the better off.

Paying more for degrees

Among the critics is Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert.com, who said: “The plans will see most university leavers pay far more for their degrees over their lifetime than they do now.

“It effectively completes the transformation of student ‘loans’ for most, into a working-life-long graduate tax.”

Labour described the proposals as “another stealth tax for new graduates,” and one that would be “slamming the door on opportunity.”

The Education Policy Institute, which aims to promote high quality education outcomes for young people, labels the move as “regressive” and one that would threaten to hit “students from disadvantaged backgrounds.”

David Robinson, the think-tank’s director of post-16 and skills, commented: “These policies are likely to result in lower- to middle-earning graduates paying more than they currently do, while higher earning graduates are likely to pay less.”

Paul Blomfield, chair of the parliamentary All-Party Group for Students, condemned the dropping of the “important proposal for the reintroduction of maintenance grants for the poorest students.”

“Freezing tuition fees, without additional teaching grant, reduces resources available to universities and means future students will be paying more for less,” Blomfield warned.

In a scathing critique of the proposals, Larissa Kennedy, president of the National Union of Students, said:

“This government parrots the language of levelling up, but these proposals are classist, ableist and racist: they target those from marginalised communities, and seek to gatekeep education.”

Gabrielle Pickard-Whitehead is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward

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