Last week the government published their response to an independent review of funding and fees in higher education that was undertaken in 2018 called the Augar Report.

The government has set out a number of reforms and proposals to the higher education system, including reforms to the student finance system. We find a vast amount of the content of these proposals extremely concerning, and believe that they will have a disproportionately negative impact on our most disadvantaged students.

We are particularly concerned about reforms to student loans. The government has proposed a new student repayment threshold where graduates will start to pay off their student loan at a salary of £25,000 and will only be written off after 40 years instead of 30.

This effectively means that many students will be paying more and for longer, and many will be paying for the entirety of their working life. We are concerned that the impact of these reforms will not be equal, and instead disproportionately impact lower-earning and women graduates. The Institute for Fiscal Studies has estimated that low earning graduates and women will pay more than high earning graduates and men under the new scheme. The government itself stated that these changes to student loan terms for new borrowers will see younger and female graduates, as well as those “that reside in the north, Midlands, south-west or Yorkshire and the Humber” pay more whilst the richest graduates pay less.

We are at least relieved that the government is not proposing to apply these reforms retrospectively and that they have not decided to increase tuition fees.

We believe that education is a right that should be available for all, regardless of background or financial status.

We believe that education is a right that should be available for all, regardless of background or financial status, and that our student finance system should not systemically disadvantage certain groups of students who already face additional hardships in education, in the graduate job market, and in wider society.

The initial Augar Review recommended that maintenance loans should be changed to grants for the most disadvantaged students and that the maximum amount of maintenance on offer to students should be increased. We are disappointed to see that the government has not addressed, nor seems to be following, this recommendation.

We are in the middle of a cost of living crisis. The rise in energy prices from April will have a huge impact on our students in the private rental sector, especially as part-time employment opportunities for students are still significantly limited compared to pre-pandemic times. Maintenance support for students has decreased in real terms, with maintenance loans not rising with inflation. This has left many students struggling to afford to support themselves during their degrees, especially pertinent for our students considering the high cost of living in London.

We are strongly opposed to the government increasing the financial pressure on graduates via loan reforms, particularly for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, all whilst ignoring the recommendation to increase maintenance loans at a time when students are struggling the most.  

We are also strongly opposed to the introduction of minimum eligibility requirements for access to student loan finance for full-time undergraduate degrees. The grade a student gets at GCSE should not prevent them from accessing further study. There are many reasons that students may not achieve high grades at GCSE level that have nothing to do with their capability to complete or excel in, a higher education course. Students from disadvantaged households are almost 20% less likely to achieve the required grades proposed by the government. This will have the biggest impact on disadvantaged students, who are both less likely to have the required grades proposed, and less likely to be able to self-fund an undergraduate degree if they cannot access student loans. Higher education should be an opportunity to transform lives, particularly for those who have faced hardship and disadvantage. We should be tackling barriers to access for disadvantaged students, not creating more.

The report is vast and covers numerous areas not addressed in this statement. We will be responding in full via the government consultation.

Osman, Yasmeen, Ilyas, Arifa, Viki and Ayman. Students' Union UCL Sabbatical Officers

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