Tuesday 31-03-2026 - 12:57

 

 

The Treasury Committee have announced a national inquiry into student loans and are calling on students and graduates to have their say on what we can only call an unfair and unfit for purpose system before 14^th April.

 

 

 

The public consultation is in two parts, the first being a call for evidence from relevant industry bodies, and the second is a short survey for anyone over 16, current students, or graduates to complete (that’s you!). Have your say and complete the survey here, it should take you no more than 10 minutes!

Don’t Freeze Our Futures!

So, how have we ended up here? In the Autumn Budget, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rachel Reeves, announced that the repayment threshold for Plan 2 Student Loans will be frozen at an income level of £29,385 a year for the three years from April 2027, in real terms this is the same as decreasing the repayment threshold each year at a level which is already not far off a full-time minimum wage salary. Millions of graduates will therefore be paying more and more money back to the government for the loans they had to take out to access Higher Education, while the government seems to have unvetted power to change the terms of this student loans contract they signed when most of them were only 17.

This isn’t an unusual underhanded move by a government to make a bit of extra cash at the expense of graduates, the threshold has been frozen at £28,470 a year since 2021, but what the Chancellor did not account for was the number of graduates on Plan 2 loans now sitting in Parliament, and they are rightfully angry.

Money Saving Experts and BBC Interviews

This has been a catalyst for people to start looking at the Student Loans system more closely, and not just at Plan 2 (in case you were thinking this doesn’t apply to you!). Leading figures, such as Martin Lewis have even joined the debate, calling out this unfair practice of fiddling with the student loans system as a “stealth tax” on graduates.

On Wednesday 11^th March, Wellbeing Officer, Leah, and I joined the National Union of Students (NUS) for their National Lobby Day in London, where students’ union officers from around the country all met with their MPs individually to talk about one topic – in this case, the student loans system. We met with Lancaster and Wyre MP (and previous LUSU FTO!), Cat Smith, in Westminster Hall, and I was interviewed by BBC News! We also attended the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Students, using this forum to discuss the matter with MPs from across the political spectrum.

 

Leah, Rory, and Cat Smith MP in Westminster Hall

 

A National Inquiry – have your say!

The day after the lobby day, the Treasury Committee announced its national inquiry into the student loans system. We would like to think we had a big part in this, although I think pressure from Martin Lewis did a lot of the legwork!

The deadline to submit responses is 14^th April, so make sure you complete the short survey to have your say!

LUSU’s Response

While the survey for students and graduates is short and sweet, the call for evidence from industry bodies such as LUSU is a little more complex. This part of the inquiry is broken up into 14 questions, focussing on themes of interest rates, terms of loans and the Government’s ability to change them, fiscal policy, and fairness.

We submitted our response to the Treasury Committee on Tuesday 31st March, after it had been approved by your representatives on Union Assembly. The Committee have, however, requested that we don’t publish our response publicly before the deadline so as not to influence others, so you will have to wait to see what we have said!

In the meantime, I think I’ve mentioned it before, but you should fill out the survey before 14^th April!

The student loans system is unfit for purpose – this is our best chance to fix it.