‘Staggering’ NI student loan debt tops £5bn

Ross Easton has been working for "a few years" and still has £27,000 in student loans to pay back

A graduate has described as “staggering” the fact that student loan debt owed in Northern Ireland has topped £5bn for the first time.

Ross Easton, who personally owes about £27,000, said it was an "an absolutely staggering number".

Last year 130,000 people in Northern Ireland were in the repayment system.

On average each student who began repayment of their loan in 2024 owed about £25,700.

That is according to figures from the Student Loans Company (SLC), which manages loans in the UK.

Loans are given for tuition fees and maintenance, and interest - capped at 6.23% in Northern Ireland - is charged on the loans.

Mr Easton said his monthly repayments were only servicing the interest on the loan.

"Although the money's getting taken from my account every month, it has not even actually taken away from the total value that is owed," he said.

"I mean it's a shame and it's shocking that you can see this money coming away every month, but nothing actually happens."

But he said when it comes to monthly repayments, they are “just something you become used to”.

"It's not essentially money that you miss because you're not used to having it,” he said.

"To have that extra cash every month would be good, but it's not in my case enough to break the bank.

"I think it's just one of those things that you see coming out and you just have to take it on the chin."

Most students from Northern Ireland in higher education get a loan for their tuition fees and a maintenance loan for living costs.

Caoimhe McKiernan feels she didn't get the full university experience during Covid

Caoimhe McKiernan, a recent graduate from Ulster University, has begun to repay her loans.

She told BBC News NI that repayment had come as a shock at first, as "I didn’t get told that it would be coming out of my pay cheque when it did."

"Most of my university degree was online due to Covid," she said.

"I am paying these fees and did not get the full university experience."

Zoey Robinson has £34,000 in student loan debt

Zoey Robinson, 27, from Lurgan went to Queen's University Belfast for her undergraduate in Psychology and the University of Stirling for an MSc in Health Psychology.

"I try to avoid checking my payslip to see the deductions taken each month because that’s heart-breaking", she said.

Zoey's loan covered her undergraduate degree, but only 70% of her postgraduate course.

"It was really hard considering I was also moving country for it," she said.

"I know without the help of my mum and dad, and also being fortunate to have a stable job during uni, I would have also really struggled.

"People deserve a right to education without being put into debt, maxing out their overdrafts, working crazy hours," Ms Robinson added.

What do student loans pay for?

The maintenance loan for living costs is to help pay for things like accommodation, food, travel, books and equipment.

It is means tested, so the amount a student get depends on their family's household income.

Maximum loans range from £5,250 a year if a student lives at home to almost £9,500 if they are studying in London.

The tuition fee loan pays for university fees, which are lower if a Northern Irish student stays in Northern Ireland to study than if they take a course elsewhere in the UK.

Undergraduate students from Northern Ireland currently pay £4,710 a year in tuition fees if they remain in Northern Ireland to study.

However, they pay up to £9,250 a year if they go to university in the rest of the UK.

In the Republic of Ireland, undergraduates from Northern Ireland pay a student contribution fee which is normally around €3,000 a year.

Some students from low-income families in Northern Ireland can also get a grant of up to £3,475 a year towards their living costs which does not have to be paid back.

When are student loans paid back?

Undergraduates from Northern Ireland begin to pay back their loans for tuition fees and living costs after they have graduated and are earning a wage of around £25,000 a year.

Repayment is made through the tax system so often comes automatically from wages.

Loans and repayment arrangements for postgraduate students are slightly different.

According to the latest figures from the SLC, the total loans owed by students from Northern Ireland reached £5.1bn in 2023-24.

That amount has more than doubled over the past decade.

Students who became eligible to repay their loans on 2023-24 owed an average of £25,730.

Many students from Northern Ireland who went to university in England, Scotland and Wales are likely to owe more than the average given the higher tuition fees they pay in those countries.

According to the SLC, just under a quarter of Northern Irish students who have taken out loans have fully paid them off.