Minister agrees Government must communicate better on student loans

MoneySavingExpert.com and the Russell Group, which represents 24 UK universities, ripped up the existing statement and launched an alternative in February, the latest version of which can be seen here.  

Our aim was to produce a statement that informs people of their personal situation, but also uses this information to illustrate how student loan repayments really work over the short and long term. This should help graduates see the likely true cost to them of their education. 

This has been tested by nearly 6,000 people, and following the results, we and the Russell Group are urgently calling on the Government and the Student Loans Company to look at using our new statement as a basis from which to redesign the official version.

And now the Universities Minister has told a Department for Education committee in the House of Commons that there are issues with how student loans are described, and cited Martin's and MSE's work with the Russell Group. 

Skidmore added that he was waiting for the outcome of the Augar report, which is reviewing post-18 education and student finance, and did not want to "prejudge" its findings.

See our Student Loans Mythbusting guide for more help understanding your loan.

'There's a narrative of taking on 'debt''

Addressing the committee in the House of Commons, Skidmore said: "It's really important that we communicate better, and I am really interested in the work Martin Lewis and the Russell Group has done around actually where the money is being spent, because you do get this narrative of saying this is so much 'debt' that you're taking on, or 'I must pay it back as soon as I can'. 

"That's the last thing you want to do, and actually this is a great financial package where actually you're going to get the best rates."