Student loans- feel sick

[Lazy56789]

I did a degree around 15 years ago, and a Masters around 10 years ago.
A repayment is taken out of my salary each month based on my earnings, but when I received a letter from student finance today I saw my balance was 41k! And over 2k in interest was added in the last tax year.

It's terrifying, I'm not in a position to pay off huge amounts, how does anyone do it? The figures are eye-watering, I feel like i must've done something wrong for it to be so high?

Out of interest, that is my interest and not interest on your loans, under what conditions will your Plan 2 loan be written off when you are 63? Genuine question.

Its taken you 15 years to realise you have to pay it back.

Ha I was speaking to my friend last week about this. I owe 31k and I’m not fussed in the slightest! Bar a few odd weeks here and there I’ve never earned enough to pay them back. I currently earn £31k so just below the threshold. Although I did get an email a few days ago that they were refunding me £96 back to my bank, that’s a meal out for my DP and I

No one is going to come knocking on my door and it won’t affect my credit history. As others have said, just look at it as a tax rather than a loan.

It’s actually going to be wiped in 5 years or so.

Honeslty OP, don’t stress, at all. It’s not worth it.

That’s good. I thought I read that only plan one is but then I thought there was only 2 plans.

Plan 2 only gets written off 30 years after you make your first repayment. If that isn't until, say for round numbers, 10 years after you finished uni, then it attracts 10 more years interest and the 30 year rule is, in effect, actually 40 years. And so on.

You're not mistaken.

I'm lucky to have university nearby that's within commuting distance from home. If my children choose to attend, they'll live at home, and we, as parents, will cover their tuition and other expenses within our planned budget.

You chose to go to university for two degrees. As others have said, this is the cost of university education. Despite being an almost straight A student in GCSEs and A Levels - I could not go to university because my parents could not afford for me to go (my father earned just above the limit for me to get a maintenance grant) and a student loan would not have covered it (early 90’s). My biggest regret is not pursuing a university education because it has held me back in my career in so many ways - you are privileged to be in a position where you could go to university.

My earning potential will never be more than it is now (low £60k’s) because every higher grade role I look at requires a university degree. I would trade that for a degree level education and student loan, but alas ai am too old now!

When Plan 2 loans get written off
Plan 2 loans are written off 30 years after the April you were first due to repay

I don't think that means 30 years after the first physical payment is made I think it means, In my case I finished uni after my first and only year August 2013, the April I would be first due to repay would be April 2014. So in theory my loan would be written off 2044 regardless of whether I made a payment every month between April 2014-2044 or none at all

Well that’s why! £55 a month? If you never get anywhere salary wise it’ll be written off eventually. Or you could actually sit down and find a way to make a meaningful dent in it. Bemoaning that you’re still in debt paying off a pittance a month is a bit pathetic TBH

Is that correct? Because the wording for loans being written off is exactly the same (apart from different number of years) for all plans here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/student-loans-a-guide-to-terms-and-conditions/student-loans-a-guide-to-terms-and-conditions-2025-to-2026

All say, in relation to writing off the debt “Any loan plus interest remaining [30] years after you’re due to start making repayments will be cancelled.”

How does your home country fund higher education?

@Juniperberry55 thank you both. Well am labouring under the belief that the first payment "due" is the one where you are earning over the threshold. If payments are in fact "due" as soon as you complete a course then I am wrong in this. Is there anything that says when a payment is officially "due"?

Elsewhere it says (under all plans) “you’ll be due to start repaying your loan the April after you finish or leave your course.“

I'm not the post you're replying to, but I'll answer since I have a friend from Brazil.

Public universities in Brazil are categorized into two types: federal and state universities. These institutions are fully funded by the government—either the federal or state governments—and they do not charge tuition fees for undergraduate or postgraduate programs. These universities are primarily financed through public taxation, with government budgets covering expenses such as professor salaries, infrastructure, research funding, and student support services, etc.

I'll never repay mine off. Don't even worry about it anymore, but I often think about the indirect discrimination that occurs in the way student loans are payed back... Women are more likely to take career breaks, go part time as carers etc so we're always more likely to be paying more for longer.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/students/student-loans-tuition-fees-changes/#tips-3

Go to point 3 and it states

You stop owing either when you've cleared the debt, or when 30 years (from the April after graduation) have passed, whichever comes first. If you never get a job earning over the threshold, it means you won't have repaid a penny.

Do they provide such a broad range of courses as are available in the UK, or are they focussed on academic and necessary studies? Can any student meeting entry criteria get full funding for any course they want? Do you have large numbers of graduates who will not only never work in the field they have studied, but are likely to never take a graduate level job? Does Brazil have an over-supply of graduates, while still having to import foreign workers because of a desperate skills shortage in professions such as medicine? Does Brazil also have to import foreign workers to do what are considered as lower skilled jobs, because so many natives see those as beneath them?

This unpleasant post would have had more punch were it not for the fact you have, presumably, reached adulthood without knowing how to apply a grammar rule taught to 7 year olds. Student loans are certainly more complicated than apostrophes, to be fair to the OP.

Might depend how long they attended for.

I'm dyslexic. Least I'm not dense enough to not realise I had to pay back my student loan!

Pretty sure op didn't think that they didn't need to pay back her student loan. But is expressing suprise at the current balance considering they've been paying back via their payslips. They obviously thought their balance would be lower by now, clearly the interest accruing over the years has been building up and the balance hasn't reduced as much as she expected. There's no need to be rude

Going to university is not mandatory. Many people decide that they do not want the huge loan hanging over their heads, and find other ways to achieve further education (apprenticeships, for example). So why should the people who DO want to go to uni not have to fund it? I don't really understand the issue. You go to uni, you have a loan to pay for it. Or you don't go to uni, and don't have a loan.

Yes, Brazilian public universities offer a wide range of courses, much like in the UK. These include traditional academic fields such as Law, Medicine, and Engineering, as well as more niche or creative areas like Performing Arts, Anthropology, and Leisure Studies. Public universities, especially federal ones, are highly respected and often research-focused. Tuition at Brazilian public universities is completely free, even for costly programs like Medicine and Engineering. However, living expenses are not covered, so students from low-income backgrounds often rely on federal aid programs like Bolsa Permanência or work part-time to make ends meet. On the other hand, private universities charge tuition, but government loan programs like FIES and scholarships such as ProUni are available to assist. Many graduates in Brazil end up working outside their field of study. A degree doesn’t guarantee a job in the area studied, and underemployment is common. Some pursue degrees due to societal pressure or as a perceived social advancement, even when job opportunities in their field are limited. This creates a paradox in Brazil, with an oversupply of graduates in areas like Humanities, Law, and Administration, while critical fields such as healthcare, engineering, and education face shortages, particularly in poorer or remote regions. Programs like Mais Médicos aim to bring in foreign doctors to address healthcare gaps in areas where Brazilian doctors are unwilling to work due to poor conditions or pay. Unlike some developed countries like the UK, Brazil doesn’t heavily rely on foreign labor for low-skilled jobs. However, in recent years, there has been an increase in immigrants, particularly from Venezuela and Haiti, who often take up lower-skilled or informal work that Brazilians may avoid — such as construction, domestic work, or agriculture. That said, it's not as widespread, and the scale is so much smaller than what you'd see in Europe or North America.

‘Or you don't go to uni, and don't have a loan.’

But you still fund other people who do go to university and get loans they can’t pay back.

It's not a graduate tax, a graduate tax would be paid by all graduates which would be fairer.
This is a 'tax' on graduates from poorer backgrounds, the wealthy avoid it.
And on the newer style plan some people will pay pack considerably more than they ever borrowed for their entire working lives. While the graduates from wealthy backgrounds will not.
It's designed to turn young people into permanent cash cows. You didn't used to need a degree to be a nurse - now you do.

It's disgraceful.