Student loan debt in England surpasses £200bn for first time

Graduates now owe an average amount of 45,000, Student Loans Company figures have revealed

Outstanding student loans in England have surpassed 200bn for the first time - 20 years earlier than previous government forecasts, as the number of students at universities continues to outstrip expectations.

The Student Loans Company (SLC), which administers tuition and maintenance loans in England, said that the balance of government-backed loans reached 205bn in the current academic year, including 19bn worth of new loans to undergraduates. The figure has doubled in just six years. It reached more than 100bn in 2016-17 after the coalition government decided to increase undergraduate tuition fees from 3,600 a year to 9,000 in 2012.