15% students leave university with debts on top of their student loan of over £10,000

With millions of people set to graduate in the coming weeks and start the next chapter of their life, new research from MoneySuperMarket today reveals that the average graduate will leave university with £3,561 of debt on top of their student loan, with 15% leaving with over £10,000 worth of debt.

The amount of debt is a concern for graduates, with 79% worried about their current bank balance and 43% admitting they are more worried about their finances than they were at university.

The findings from the UK’s leading price comparison website also show that 55% of graduates borrow money from their parents while studying, with the average loan from the ‘bank of mum and dad’ making up £2,188 of total debt. Only 57% pay their parents back, taking on average 11 months to do so.

Of those that borrowed from their parents while at university, 42% did so because they had gone through their student loan too fast, 36% had gone too far into their overdraft and 25% said their parents didn’t want to see them running up debt with a bank. 17% said they hadn’t opened a bank account with an overdraft before they went to university.

Three fifths spent the money from parents on groceries, while 36% used it to pay their rent. Other popular spends included equipment, such as books and laptops (48%), travel (31%), takeaways (30%) and alcohol (26%).

Rachel Wait, consumer affairs spokesperson at MoneySuperMarket, commented: 

“With exams, essays, lectures and socialising to do at university, the last thing you are probably thinking about is your long-term debt. However, students are leaving university owing significant amounts of money, whether it be to the bank or to their parents.

“If you are in debt when you leave university, there are some basis steps you can take to reduce it. Firstly, it is worth checking the terms of your current account as many banks will give you a timeline on when they will start charging your student account a higher rate of interest. You may also want to look at consolidating your debt onto a 0% credit card, which will allow you to spread your repayments out without having to pay additional interest.”

All data taken from a survey of 1,000 UK residents that have graduated from university in the last 10 years conducted by research agency One Poll between 17/05/19 – 05/06/19