Scottish Students Graduating With GBP9K Less Debt Than English Counterparts

Fri, 09 Jul 2010

University students in Scotland who graduated in 2009 had roughly three times less debt than that of the average graduate in England, new figures from the Student Loans Company have revealed.

The SLC said Scottish graduates left university last year with an average student loan debt of £5,970 compared to £14,730 for English students .

The official statistics were released to coincide with a student summit in Edinburgh, where Michael Russell, Cabinet Secretary for Education and Lifelong Learning, vowed to listen to the National Union of Students (NUS) Scotland on the future of higher education student support .

Mr Russell said: "This Scottish Government stands firmly behind the principle of free education which is why we scrapped the Graduate Endowment. Despite the current economic climate and pressures on public spending we ruled out the return of fees earlier this year with the full support of NUS Scotland."

"In recent weeks, we have won the backing of Parliament to ensure students will not have to pay tuition fees no matter what decisions are taken in England."

"Already, we can see the benefits to students in terms of debt with today's figures showing the average Scottish graduates almost £9,000 better off than their English counterparts."

He added: "Alongside the record levels of funding we have given to universities, we have also given record levels of funding for student grants and bursaries. More students than ever before are at university and more students are receiving financial assistance from the Scottish Government."

"This has all taken place in the context of an economic recession we neither foresaw nor created."
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