[gambiting]

On the other hand, my repayments of the UK Student loan are so small that I literally don't care. They are also always based on my income, so if I lose my job - no biggie. No one is going to come and chase me about it, there just won't be anything to pay until I get a job and make more than the current threshold.

I don't see how this could be stressful even if I continue paying some small amount into my 50s - from my point of view it's not debt, it's more like paying a water bill each month.

[richmarr]

You as a reasonably well paid technology professional (presumably) don't care. Don't make the mistake of assuming that the rest of the world is in a similar situation to you.

For example; a starter salary of £28k would be only £7k over the threshold and "only" result in repaying 9% of that, or £630 per year. But in Austerity Britain people on that kind of salary (e.g. nurses) are already starting to resort to using food banks.

Weigh up the alternatives, such as an apprenticeship or a job offer and university starts to lose ground to other options; but much more so for people with a lower socio-economic background. This is the problem.

[gambiting]

I actually make less than the amounts you quoted and I still absolutely don't care. I'm actually living very comfortably on this salary. But then I'm in the north east, maybe in London you have to use food banks on 27k but over here you absolutely don't.

[richmarr]

Sure, it's great to hear that you're doing okay. It's still important not to generalise your own situation to the whole country. As you say, things are different for other people.