University student loans campaign

At Community, we’re proud to be a campaigning trade union. At our biannual conference in 2022, Community members made it clear that student loans is a priority for our union.  The cost and fees associated with going to university has never been higher, and all teachers need some form of higher education qualification to be able to perform their role.

The government keeps moving the goal posts in terms of loan repayments, and the points at which you will start paying back your student loan, getting ever more expensive for an individual.

 The facts about student teacher loans

• The average student loan for a early career/new qualified teacher is £50,000
• If your course starts in August 2023, you will start repaying your student loan, if you earn £27,295 a year, £2,274 a month or £524 a week
• Teacher starting pay will only this year rise to £30,000 a year full-time equivalent
• You will repay the loan over an average of 40 years
• You will pay 9% of your salary above the threshold in repayment
• You will pay a standard 7.1% interest rate, and this will be deducted directly from your earnings once you reach the repayment thresholds
• On earnings above the threshold, you are being deducted at least 41% of your salary, which will include Tax, NI And Student Loan Repayments
• You will repay undergraduate and postgraduate loans at the same time. This may involve two concurrent repayments, or one repayment towards a combined balance

This is just too high! Schools are struggling to recruit and retain teachers, and we feel the cost of going to university is putting people off going into teaching. We feel the government needs to act and feel that they could help the teaching profession by reducing the loan repayments and stopping interest payments on student loans. We have lobbied all political parties ahead of the next General Election and written to the current Education Secretary. We want you to join our campaign. If you are interested in getting more involved and want to join our Student Loan Working Group, please complete the below form.