She said: “Well, it is important that you don’t have to start paying back the student loan until you earn enough money.
“And that is the point of the student loan system, that you get the loan, you get that great university education and you only pay it back if you afford, if you can afford to do so.
“And obviously after a period of time, that gets written off entirely.”So if you are able to get a job that pays a good wage, you’ll pay that money back quicker.
“But if you’re never able to repay, that loan will eventually be written off. I think that is a fair system.”
In the autumn budget, the Government announced the income threshold at which graduates with Plan 2 student loans start repaying their loans would be frozen between 2027 and 2030.
Those who went to university in England between September 2012 and summer 2023 are on Plan 2 student loans.
The threshold will rise to £29,385 in 2026/27 and will remain at that level until 2030, essentially meaning more graduates will start making repayments earlier than they would have if the threshold rose every year in line with inflation.
Alex Stanley, vice president of higher education at the National Union of Students (NUS), said: “The student loan system isn’t working for anyone. Not for students who are having to access foodbanks. Not for graduates who are paying back hundreds of pounds a month without touching the sides of the interest on their loans. And not for the Government as student debt is ballooning.
“Surely the Chancellor should be looking for a solution rather than doubling down on a broken system?”
Interest is charged on Plan 2 loans at the rate of Retail Prices Index (RPI) inflation and up to 3% depending on how much a graduate earns.
More than three in four (76%) respondents to the YouGov poll said interest rates at inflation plus 3% is “too high”, with more than half (56%) saying the same for inflation plus 1%.