Despite tuition fees rising to over £9,000 per year a couple of years ago, research has shown that this hasn't deterred students when it comes to applying to study at university, with application numbers rising and applications from disadvantaged students going up markedly.
Well, strike me down with a feather. Is this actually surprising to anyone, really?!
Let's break this down. Lots of youngsters are applying to university to study for a degree knowing full well they will probably never have to pay a penny of their student loan back, and people are surprised that application numbers are still high?
Why wouldn't students apply to university when chances are they're never going to reach the threshold to pay nearly £10,000 worth of debt back into the economy? It's free education, primarily.
The repayment limit keeps moving all the time too, which helps students. It used to be that people earning £20,000 or more per annum would pay so much back per week or month and this would be automatically deducted from a person's monthly wage. That threshold figure has recently been pushed up to £25,000 per year with rumours circulating that the threshold will again be raised in the next couple of years to those earning £30,000 per annum or more. This is despite most undergraduates starting on around £21,000 per year, and remaining on that figure for a good five years. The fact of the matter is that people are talking about students having a hard time of it, but it isn't the students that feel it. It is the British economy that is taking the brunt of millions of pounds worth of loans being given out and nothing in the form of repayments ever coming back. It is unsustainable for the country and is something that needs addressing.