UCU response to BBC findings on length of student loan repayments

UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: 'The revelations that students will be paying back double or even three times what they originally borrowed is a key element that has been missed in the debate over fees. It is not simply a case of tripling the cost of a course; the loans are for fees and maintenance costs and the small print reveals that students will be paying back huge sums for most of their working lives.
 
'The government is so out of touch with ordinary people that it does not understand how such huge debts will put some people off studying and send others searching for the cheapest options. It is no good trotting out the line that you pay the debt back a little later when that debt is considerably larger and will stay with you for most of your working life.'

• Graduates 'could pay back double their student loans', BBC