Postgrads put off by debt

The National Postgraduate Committee (NPC) found that 77 per cent of potential postgraduates from working-class backgrounds said that money worries put them off further study.

“Debt is a major concern for students, especially those from lower socio-economic backgrounds,” said Simon Felton, the general secretary of the NPC, in The Times Higher Education Supplement.

While most undergraduates have parts of their tuition fees paid for, this is not the case for postgraduates.

Students already graduate with an average debt of £13,500 according to the Association of Investment Trust Companies and this could rise higher.

Yet with top-up fees meaning that the current generation of students will graduate with even more debt, action was called for to ensure that able students are not put off further studies.