The Student Loan System is Now Completely Broken

Sign up to Brilliant for free and you'll also get 20% off an annual premium subscription: https://brilliant.org/tldr/ Get 40% off our store using code FIRESALE: https://www.toolong.news Last year, the total interest added to England’s student loans was £15bn - around 3x the amount that students actually paid off (£5bn). In this video we look at how we got to a situation where the system is so broken. 📰 Too Long: https://toolong.news/ 💡 Got a Topic Suggestion? - https://forms.gle/mahEFmsW1yGTNEYXA Our mission is to explain news and politics in an impartial, efficient, and accessible way, balancing import and interest while fostering independent thought. TLDR is a completely independent & privately owned media company that's not afraid to tackle the issues we think are most important. The channel is run by a small group of young people, with us hoping to pass on our enthusiasm for politics to other young people. We are primarily fan sourced with most of our funding coming from donations and ad revenue. No shady corporations, no one telling us what to say. We can't wait to grow further and help more people get informed. Help support us by subscribing, engaging and sharing. Thanks! SOURCES Government Documents Student Loan Repayment Amounts https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay Student Loan Interest Rates https://www.gov.uk/government/news/student-loans-interest-rates-and-repayment-threshold-announcement--5 Student Loan Interest Rates FAQ https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/student-loans-and-interest-rates-faqs/ Student Loan Statistics https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/SN01079/SN01079.pdf News Articles The Telegraph Scandalous Student Debts are Crushing the Economy https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2026/01/18/scandalous-student-debts-are-crushing-the-economy/ New Statesman Britain’s Youth are Living in Nick Clegg’s Shadow https://www.newstatesman.com/politics/uk-politics/2026/01/britains-youth-are-living-in-nick-cleggs-shadow The Telegraph The Graduates That Will Never Pay off a Student Loan https://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/consumer-affairs/why-three-bs-a-levels-never-pay-off-student-loan/ Other The Taxing Wealth Report https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Student-taxation-published.pdf Student Loan Calculator https://studentloancalculator.uk/plans/ ONS Shortcomings of RPI as a Measure of Inflation https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/inflationandpriceindices/articles/shortcomingsoftheretailpricesindexasameasureofinflation/2018-03-08