Three friends on their student debt: one paid off, one chipping away and one creeping up
Lizzy, Charlotte and Libby studied at the same time, but their student debt now looks very different.
By BBC News
Three friends who studied at the same university have seen their student loan balances take very different paths over the past decade.
Lizzy, Charlotte and Libby attended the University of Newcastle between 2012 and 2015. They began their degrees when tuition fees in England and Wales rose to £9,000 a year and the new Plan 2 student loans were introduced.
Each borrowed about £37,500 to cover tuition and living costs. Since then, their earnings, careers and personal circumstances have affected how much they have repaid and how much interest has been added.
Lizzy, who studied economics, now works in financial services and lives in Bristol. She earns £85,000 a year and cleared her student loan last year by borrowing money from her family.
She had estimated that repaying the loan through the normal system would have taken 11 years. Lizzy hopes to repay her family within four years and believes clearing the loan early will save about £20,000 in interest.
Charlotte is a physiotherapist in Bristol earning about £50,000. Despite making repayments, her balance is still increasing.
She said she had paid about £450 towards the loan since April, while more than £500 had been added in interest over the same period.
Libby works as a project manager for a housing association and lives in Worcester. She earns £72,000, but her loan balance has remained at about £47,000 for several years.
She is currently on maternity leave, meaning her earnings and monthly repayments have fallen. Interest will continue to be added while the balance remains unpaid.
All three friends took out Plan 2 loans, which are written off after 30 years. Their experiences show how the same starting level of borrowing can lead to very different outcomes depending on salary, repayments and changes in circumstances.