To think that student loan interest rates will worsen the gap between better off students and those from poorer homes?

[OfstedOffred]

....because those from better off homes will have access to other forms of finance (parents who can lend or extend mortgage & provide funds to their children at much lower interest rates etc).

Some students are going to be paying 12%. DH and I could borrow against our home to provide our kids finance at a fraction of that cost, it's completely unfair on students with no other choice.

Doesn't it just come out their wages like any other tax?

@NotTheOW

Doesn't it just come out their wages like any other tax?

I think the concern is more that depending on the repayment thresholds some people could be making repayments but still see the overall balance increase from what I skim read on another forum?

I always used to be a bit blase about it being linked to earnings therefore you only pay off what you can afford but this seems a bit of a significant change.

Hopefully it will dissuade more from going to university, achieving Mickey Mouse degrees and probably never paying their student load back. Instead, take advantage of apprenticeships and training schemes.

@HelloMrBond that there are very few off to take advantage off , its all well and good people saying this but they are few and far between and don't exsist for a teacher or nurse for example you have to have a degree
And OP is right someone becoming a nurse whose parents are well off can take out less loans or cheaper loans and that person will have a better disposable income that the ones whose parents are ok earners but the child has to take out all the loans just to get through the course
Same old in the country , they want uni only for the well off , too many poor kids getting in now

Yes and no, in some way, taking student finance is like a gamble. At the end of uni, you may get a career that will take you over threshold for paying back or you won't. If you don't get over the threshold, then you'll never pay it back (mine is written off after 30 years I think), and if you funded it through other means, then you'd technically have paid more than you needed to.
If you do get over threshold, it's then a matter of whether you'd pay off the full amount before the write off point. If you're earning above the threshold but won't pay off the initial sum, then the interest amount is by the by.
The issue with the interest is if you're set to pay of the full amount before its written off, and therefore will have more to pay overall.

Higher earning parents/families in some ways are at an advantage, in that they can avoid the high interest rate and wage deductions for life, if paid in advance. The interesting statistic would be if such families are more likely to get a career after uni that would set them to pay the full amount off.

The people most at a disadvantage are those without means to pay outright for their tuition but are on track to earn enough in their life to pay the full amount including interest. But that's not realised until after graduation.

It's a really significant change, but it's hard to determine how many people it would actually affect in real terms.

Currently I earn below the threshold, and as the threshold rises each year, its unlikely I'll ever pay off even the initial amount, so the interest amount doesn't really mean much to me at the moment. But as I have no way to predict my future earnings, it could impact quite heavily later.

@NotTheOW

Doesn't it just come out their wages like any other tax?

It does, and the repayments are set as a % of inconsistent rather than to do with the balance. Where the inequality arises is that those who had smaller loans (eg only took tuition loan and parents paid for maintenance) pay it off quicker and therefore pay less.

Yanbu