Students face costs of £33k

According to the NatWest poll, this translates into a graduation debt of £14,779, over £1,000 more than graduates owed last year.

However, Mark Worthington, head of NatWest student and graduate banking, saw hope in the findings: “Despite the anticipated cost of university rising by 17 per cent on 2005, students are taking it in their stride and cutting back on their spending, meaning they only expect to graduate with eight per cent more debt than those not paying the increased tuition fees.”

The findings come as students prepare to embark on courses with top-up fees, which are around three times more than current fees.

Also discovered by the survey was that while student debt is rising, it is not increasing at such a great pace as before, though 2005’s graduates still owe an average of £13,252.

With just over half of students concerned about their debt, nearly a quarter said that it had prompted them to think about dropping out to take a full-time job.