Petition · past parliament · Department for Education

Make Plan 2 Student Loans fair by capping the interest rate at 1.5%.

Closed 413 signatures

What the petition asks

Due to the radical interest rates applied, the interest accrued is drastically outpacing repayments leading to loans becoming a life-long tax. As the loan grows, graduates will continue to pay a basic tax rate (>£27,288) of 29% and a higher rate of 49% whilst making little to no impact on the loan.
The avg. U.K graduate starting salary U.K is £30,000 with a loan of £45,000.

If salary increases by 5.5% each year, at age 40, they'll be earning £78,644 P.A. and will have paid £33,264 towards the loan.

The value of the loan at 5.58% interest (10 year RPI avg. + 3%)? £79,676. They still have 10 years until it's written off.

When the loan is closed, the total contribution will be £103,587 age 51.

At a fair, 1.5% interest rate the avg. grad will clear their loan having paid £58,186 age 45.

Timeline

3 Aug 2022 Petition opened for signatures
17 Feb 2023 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 413
Status Closed
Department Department for Education
Opened 3 Aug 2022
Closed 17 Feb 2023

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.