How much the Govt expects you to give your children for university
Update Note 25 May 2017: The ready reckoners below have been updated with the new 2017/2018 living loan amounts. Also since first writing this blog, and seeing the strength of feeling it attracted, I have written an open letter to the Uni Minister asking him to start telling people about this. Yet sadly received his no we won’t...
Martin Lewis: If 83% are predicted not to repay student loans, who pays it? It doesn’t work like you think…
Student loans are a political hot potato and widely misunderstood. I recently blogged on why, bizarrely, cutting tuition fees risks hurting not helping most graduates and within the logic of that I explained it is predicted that 83% of university leavers under the newest English system won’t repay their loans in full within the 30 years before they wipe....
Five things EVERY student and their parents should know
Fear grabs votes and makes headlines. Sadly, though, both sides’ political spin and spittle over student finance have resulted in widespread rampant misinformation – and it’s got worse again this year. So with a new academic year about to start, my message to students and their parents is simple – forget the politics – ensure you understand...
Is your student loan being sold? The answers we must get from the Government…
If you started university between 1998 and 2012, the Government plans to sell your student loan to the City. If you started in 2012 or beyond, chances are the same will happen to you. If you went before 1998 then your loan has already been sold, and you probably know there were substantial problems. The House of Lords’...
Dear Jo Johnson: Minister, it’s time to tell parents the truth about what you expect them to pay towards university costs
Parents of students starting university in England in 2016, are facing a hidden 27% rise in university costs. We’ve been working on this for a few weeks, and as part of our campaign for a more transparent system of student finance, I have today sent an open letter to Jo Johnson, Minister for Universities, asking for him...
Open letter to David Cameron about the retrospective student loan hike
Alongside hiring lawyers to look at whether the Government’s decision to retrospectively change student loan repayments for all students who have started university since 2012 can be legally challenged, I have sent the letter below to the Prime Minister asking for a meeting to discuss the moral issues of the change.
I’ve hired lawyers to investigate judicial reviewing Govt’s retrospective student loan hike
While the Chancellor talked about students in his Autumn Statement a few weeks ago, he chose to hide in the small print – or perhaps wasn't brave enough to speak about – a hike in the student loan repayments for all who've started since 2012.
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Recent Blogs
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Martin Lewis: Payment holidays coming to an end – but should you take one? Mortgages, credit cards, loans, payday loans, car finance and more
20 October 2020
Within the last week, we've seen the extension of coronavirus credit card, personal loan and overdraft help to 31 October 2020, with mortgage payment holidays already extended. The regulator's other help schemes are also likely to be extended too, including car finance and payday loans, yet should you do it? -
Is it time to ban Christmas presents?
14 September 2020
Update September 2017: It’s eight years since I first braved this subject, expecting a snowstorm of protest. Instead, year after year more join in, like Julia who recently tweeted me, “@MartinSLewis, finally took your advice and told my family I can’t afford Christmas presents. What a weight off my mind. Thank you.” One year even the Archbishop of... -
Martin Lewis: I confess, I did a 'decoy effect' experiment on my Twitter and Facebook followers… and it may be why they're buying more Jaffa Cakes
7 September 2020
Behavioural economics is a powerful science. Some retailers are undoubtedly using it to make us pay more to get less. One element is the 'decoy effect' – where a higher-priced item is sold, to make items next to it look like bargains. So I wanted to do a little experiment to test it
