Credit Action warns student loans feed 'debt culture'

As undergraduate students across the country sit their final exams, they are preparing to emerge into the working world with an average debt burden of around £13,500, a debt charity has warned.

The debt incurred in their student years may not impede their finances in later years, Credit Action's spokesperson Chris Tapp said, but it does embed a "culture of debt" which students can find hard to shake off.

Financial experts stress that debt per se is not necessarily a problem and well-managed borrowing teaches individuals good financial management.

But, as "government-endorsed debt on a massive scale", taking out a student loan is "feeding into debt culture", Chris Tapp warned.

What is more, a "rising percentage" of graduates may be falling into insolvency after finding their accumulating debt impossible to manage, he stressed.

A damaged credit rating can affect graduates' ability to obtain a mortgage or loan for the next six years, as well as limiting their employment options, with a history of insolvency barring candidates from professions such as law or accountancy, he noted.

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