Harrogate MP Tom Gordon has called for changes to student finance after figures showed more than two million borrowers' debts grew despite making repayments.
Figures obtained through his parliamentary question to the Secretary of State for Education showed that 2.09 million borrowers saw their student loan balances increase during the 2025-26 tax year.
That represents a 155% rise compared with 2021-22, with the increase attributed to growing borrower numbers, higher interest rates and frozen repayment thresholds.
Nearly 1.6 million of those affected had Plan 2 loans, while 340,000 were on Plan 1 and 158,000 were on Plan 3.
Mr Gordon, who has a Plan 2 student loan himself, has repeatedly raised concerns in Parliament about the impact of freezing repayment thresholds.
The Liberal Democrat MP introduced a Bill last month calling for a review of the student loan system.
Tom Gordon said:
“We knew it was a grim time for graduates. People are putting off starting families or unable to get on the property ladder because they simply can't afford it.
“But these figures spell out the problem in black and white. Two million loans where the debt has increased despite repayments. You need to make about £66,000 a year before your repayments will outstrip the interest.
“The government needs to take action, stop using this generation of graduates as cash cows and give them a fair system like the one they were promised.”
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