“How long am I going to have to put my life on hold?”
This is the question Tobias Clapp, 37, asks himself every day as one of the millions of graduates paying off his student loan.
The lawyer, from Orpington, Kent, is ready to take the next steps in life: get married, buy a house and start a family.
But like the vast majority of graduates with controversial Plan 2 student loans, he has found himself “fighting against a current”, unable to reach some of his goals because of the weight of his outstanding debt.
In 2014, eight years after he left school at 16 to work as a hairdresser, Mr Clapp decided to return to education and took out a £3,500 loan to pay for a humanities access course at a college, which he needed to obtain before he could go on to study at university.
He was told the sum would be deducted from his total student loan if he went on to graduate from university, but by the time he finished his law degree at the University of Exeter, the interest accrued on his loan had already passed £3,500, making the deduction redundant.
Since completing his Legal Practice Course (LPC), the final stage of training to become a qualified solicitor, and beginning to work as a qualified lawyer, Mr Clapp has paid £7,500 of his £53,289 loan, but with £24,980 of added interest, his remaining balance has soared to £64,422.
His £300-a-month payments are now forcing him to “delay his life”, as he struggles to save enough to put a mortgage deposit down or start a family.
“It’s very disappointing,” he told The Independent. “Part of growing up is being able to take the next steps in your life, being able to outgrow the position you’re in and take next step. But I feel like I’m still having to behave like I’m in my early twenties.”
He added: “I’m 37 now. It would’ve been nice to start thinking about next step, my girlfriend and I have been together for four years, we talk about mortgages and children.”
Despite “pulling every penny” they have together for a mortgage, Mr Clapp said they’re unable to find any two-bedroom house they could bring up a family in.
The couple have also put off getting engaged, as he says the loan payments have “fundamentally delayed” their life plans.
“We were thinking of having two kids, but the reality with our ages is that it will now be one, which is disappointing,” he said. “I have put in blood, sweat, and tears, and every time I move forward, I get an email from the student loan company telling me I have to pay more.”
The government has faced growing criticism of the student loans system after the chancellor announced the repayment threshold would be frozen for three years, meaning graduates are likely to be pulled into higher repayment bands as their salaries rise with inflation.
A public survey carried out by parliament’s Treasury Committee found that 70 per cent of the 49,357 graduates polled say their loan repayments have a material impact on their financial planning for the future.
There has been a particular focus on Plan 2 student loans, which were introduced in 2012, and have interest rates linked to the rate of retail price index inflation (RPI).
Ollie Gardner, founder of campaign group Rethink Repayment, said the survey shows politicians should rethink student loans “to avoid the long-term economic consequences of holding back an entire generation”.
“It should deeply concern all of us that student loan repayments are having such a significant impact on young people’s finances,” he said. “They are preventing many from reaching key life milestones such as buying a home, starting a family and saving for retirement, simply because they chose to pursue higher education.”
Vice president of the National Union of Students Alex Stanley said the government cannot “afford not to listen any longer”.
“These loans were necessary to invest in our education, but now they are freezing our futures.”
Roxi Quinn, 32, is another graduate who has been forced to rethink her life plans over a student loan plan she feels she was “mis-sold”.
She went straight into work as a credit analyst at HSBC after graduating with a maths degree from Sheffield Hallam, before working her way up to be a credit risk consultant.
Despite repaying £26,714 of her £37,803 loan, the interest her loan has accrued has meant she has barely made a dent in it, and still owes £36,379 as of October 2025.
Her payment of around £300 a month has now left her unsure of whether she can afford to have children.
“There is no money left over at the end of the month,” she told The Independent. “And when I’m paying £300 a month to my student loan, I could not imagine being able to afford to take time out of work if I had a kid, and then afford childcare to go back to work. Or even just generally affording what you need to have children.”
She said the long-term impact of the loan was not explained properly when she signed up at 17 years old, and believed at the time it would be like paying for a phone contract.
“At 17, 18, I was definitely not at all financially aware. I came from a low income family, there was no real financial literacy in my family, no one that understood it,” she said.
“You just sort of assumed that it was something that you took, you paid a little bit out of your salary each month, and you barely even noticed it. Then by the time that you want to be buying a house or having kids, it’s gone and it’s not there anymore. And that is just not how it has panned out for us.”
A government spokesperson said they recognise concerns amongst some graduates and “understand why this is an important issue”.
“We inherited the current system and have taken steps to make it fairer – including raising the repayment threshold for the first time since 2021 and capping maximum interest rates this year to protect graduates from rising costs. We have also reintroduced targeted maintenance grants to expand opportunities for people from all backgrounds to go to university or college.
“The student finance system protects lower-earning graduates, with repayments linked to income and any outstanding balances and interest written off at the end of repayment terms.”
