A BBC review of over 110 university websites found that a dozen institutions only published student loan repayment examples for incomes below the national average of £39,039. Other websites displayed incorrect loan plans, outdated thresholds, or compared repayments to negligible daily expenses like a cup of coffee. Notably, the Department for Education also omitted real-world Plan 5 repayment figures from its own portal. In response to the investigation, the government and multiple universities have pledged to review and update their published materials.
Key points
Higher-earning graduates face significantly steeper loan repayments than promotional univ…: Higher-earning graduates face significantly steeper loan repayments than promotional university examples suggest to prospective applicants.
Government guidance on official Department for Education channels also lacked realistic P…: Government guidance on official Department for Education channels also lacked realistic Plan 5 repayment scenarios.
Multiple universities including Exeter and Northumbria have updated their websites after…: Multiple universities including Exeter and Northumbria have updated their websites after scrutiny revealed inaccuracies and trivializing comparisons.
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Several universities in England have only been using below-average salaries in examples of student loan repayments on their websites, the BBC has found.
Treasury Committee chair Dame Meg Hillier, who led a recent inquiry into student loans, said some information about repayments was "misleading", including one instance where they were compared to the "cost of a daily coffee".
She also said the Department for Education (DfE) must include higher-salary examples on its own website, too.
The DfE said it would review the information it provides, while universities said their websites referred to government information and would be reviewed where necessary.
Student loan repayments are tied to earnings, so the more you earn, the more you repay every month - and graduates generally go on to earn more than non-graduates.
Current and prospective students in England take out Plan 5 loans to pay for their tuition fees and living costs. They repay 9% of anything they earn over £25,000 for 40 years, or until the loan is paid off.
The BBC looked at publicly available information on more than…
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