Debts mount up

The Student Loans Company had received more than 1.8 million applications for loans by mid-1995 and Pounds 1.8 billion of repayments was still outstanding, according to a National Audit Office report out this week. It estimated Pounds 125 million will currently not be repaid, because the borrower's income will remain below the repayment threshold or because they have died. A further Pounds 15 million is not recoverable currently because the borrower has defaulted.