England degree debt ‘highest in English-speaking world’

University graduates in England face higher debts on graduation than their peers in the US, Canada, Australia and New Zealand, the Sutton Trust says.

The social mobility charity says those who graduated from English universities last year – under the £9,000 fees regime – owed an average of £44,000.

It says average debts in other English-speaking countries ranged between approximately £15,000 and £29,000.

The government says England’s funding system is “fair and sustainable”.

The Sutton Trust says on average American graduates owe between $29,000 (£20,500), for students at public or private non-profit universities, and $32,600, for those at private for-profit universities.

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Sir Peter Lampl, who chairs the Sutton Trust, said: “The massive increase in tuition fees from just over £3,000 to £9,000 per annum and the abolition of the maintenance grant results in the poorest English university graduates facing debts on graduation of over £50,000 with interest rates on the debt compounding at up to 3% over inflation.

“These debt levels are by far the highest in the English-speaking world and are more than double average debt levels at universities in the United States, where students study for four-year programmes, rather than three.

“They impact on the ability of graduates to go to graduate schools, to afford a mortgage, the timing of having children and other major life decisions.

“The cost of going to university has become so expensive that more young people should seriously consider higher level apprenticeships, preferably to degree level.

“By choosing this route, they will earn while they learn, incur less debt, and develop skills which are greatly valued in the workplace.

“We need more good apprenticeships to offer genuine alternatives to university degrees.”

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