SLC reveals largest student debts

By Nicholas Boyle

Information provided following a Freedom of Information request has revealed that the total value of the 20 largest student debts (from the Student Loans Company (SLC)) is over £1m, the BBC reports.

95% of the students carrying those debts were on courses that ran for at least five years and went to institutions based in London, where the amount of debt students take on is expected to be greater because of higher living costs.

David Willetts, Universities Minister, said the amounts owed were "unusual".

He told BBC Radio 4`s `Money Box` programme that if these students were training for professions in law or medicine, they were likely to have `substantial earnings later on in life`.

The news comes as figures calculated for the BBC by leading accountants revealed that a student taking on a debt of £39,000 for a three-year degree (after the tuition fee rise is put in place next September) could repay £83,000 in total (in cash terms).

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