Student debt up...

Student debt has risen 167 per cent to £3.2 billion over the past decade, according to a survey of more than 1,000 students by uSwitch.com, a price comparison service. The average amount owed by students on graduation increased from £5,096 to £11,123 and would take, on average, 11 years to clear, uSwitch said. In 2007, 49,300 students (17 per cent) would graduate with an average debt of £11,000.

A separate study of 2,000 students by university guide Push.co.uk found undergraduates who started courses in 2006 would owe more than £17,000 on average by the time they left.