A parliamentary committee says government promotions for Plan 2 student loans in England and Wales amounted to mis-selling. MPs on the Treasury select committee cite materials that compared student loan repayments with the cost of a mobile phone contract, which they argue gave a misleading impression of what borrowers would pay. The committee also points to YouTube videos used in the campaign that, it says, did not clearly explain that loan terms could change.
MPs also link their criticism to a separate policy decision by the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, announced last year. They say ministers have a moral obligation to reverse a freeze to the Plan 2 repayment threshold, which is set at £29,385 for three years from April 2027. The freeze has been a source of political controversy, with some outlets reporting the inquiry’s view that affected borrowers may not have received sufficiently clear information.
The committee’s conclusions are reported across multiple outlets, including that the issue concerns both the messaging used to promote student loans and the implications of the forthcoming repayment-threshold freeze for millions of borrowers.
