Tinuke has started increasing her pension contributions to reduce the amount of her income that’s subject to higher‑rate tax and student loan repayments.
“I think this is a good alternative in some ways, in that I get to keep more of the money I make as opposed to just never seeing it again,” she said.
“But I also need a lot of the money now. I’m trying to save. I’d like to get on the property ladder and save for a deposit, and I can’t do that if I’m putting all my money in a pension.”
Tinuke borrowed around £75,000 for her economics and business finance degree at Brunel University. But, because of the Covid pandemic, she said the first two years of her degree were remote. She now owes nearly £90,000.
She said the university did a good job considering the circumstances, but added: “I definitely feel like my first two years were not worth what I paid.”
This month, University College London reached a settlement with graduates and students who launched legal action over teaching quality during strikes and Covid lockdowns.
Now a further 36 universities are facing legal action, though Brunel University is not one of them.
Brunel University said the pandemic “was a challenging period for the whole country and throughout this time, our priority was to ensure students could continue their education and feel supported in doing so”.
It added: “We maintained teaching and provided a range of wellbeing and financial support services including rent waivers, rent credits, rent-free periods and other initiatives to support our student community who were unable to use their rooms during parts of the academic year.”