A new bill proposed by Backbench Labour MP Luke Charters seeks to change student maintenance loans to monthly payments, replacing the current system of three lump sums each year.
Charters argues that this would help students manage their finances amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.
The proposal has earned the support of 11 other sponsors — the maximum number permitted. However, he reports that other backbenchers have also voiced their support. Joining them are both the National Union of Students (NUS) and numerous local students unions, representing around a third of all students nationally.
NUS president Amira Campbell gave her blessing to the bill, and stated that student finance is:
in dire need of reform and a review into the payment plan is a great place to start.
‘Enough’s enough’: Time to reform student loans
Charters, who is 30 years old, told Sky Newsthat he wanted to bring attention to student issues in parliament:
I’m on plan two. I’m paying off my loan. I’m one of the youngest MPs in parliament. For successive governments going back decades, parliament has not talked enough about student issues. I say enough’s enough.
Under the current system, the maximum maintenance loan for students in England (and outside London) is £10.5k annually. This is paid in three lots of around £3.5k, with a four-month wait in-between.
However, Scotland already pays its students monthly – the new proposal would see England follow Scotland’s lead. It would also involve giving students their first payment before term starts, to help with the cost of materials and rent deposits.
York Outer MP Luke Charters explained to Sky Newsthat students were struggling to budget under the English schedule, and:
lots of students are maxing their overdrafts and credit cards. […]
Could you imagine having your salary drop three times a year and getting four months all at once? It’s really, really a difficult balance for students at the moment.
‘Cost-free changes’
The current government has stated that it will introduce means-tested maintenance grants for students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds. These could total up to £1000 a year, and wouldn’t need to be paid back — unlike the maintenance loan. Unfortunately, this won’t take effect until a distant 2028.
However, before we start thinking that Labour might actually care about students, there’s a catch. Tuition fees are set to rise in line with inflation each year.
And, along with that, students will have to pay more of the loan back earlier. This is because chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that she is freezing the repayment thresholds for the next 3 years back in her autumn budget.
One of the other sponsors of the new student finance bill, Bournemouth East MP Tom Hayes, reasoned that students:
need more support with the cost of living.
I hear this all the time from young people. That’s why I back this bill to fix student finance.
He also voiced the opinion that the proposal would:
help thousands of young people with cost-free changes to maintenance loan payment dates.
But therein lies the rub, doesn’t it? Whilst they may well help students manage their finances, the measures proposed by the bill aren’t actually providing any new money. And, lest we forget, that’s a far cry from Starmer’s earlier pledges on student finance.
‘Difficult choices’?
Way back in 2020, during his campaign to become leader of the Labour Party, Keir Starmer proposed cutting or scrapping university tuition fees. In fact, it was one of the ten core pledges of his campaign.
However, Labour announced that they were officially dropping that pledge in 2024. Starmer said at the time:
Looking at the costing for tuition fees or abolishing them, looking at the money we need to put into the NHS, I’ve taken the decision that we can’t do both. That’s a difficult decision, I’ll accept that.
Betraying students to help the NHS? Well at least we have a working healthcare system now.
Drawing fire from Labour’s (dwindling) left wing for throwing students under the bus, Starmer stated:
Since then [2020], there’s been huge damage to the economy and as we’ve got towards the election we’ve had to make difficult choices.
By contrast, party leader Zack Polanski of the Greens has also voiced a desire to scrap tuition fees. He also criticised the hypocrisy of Labour increasing costs for students:
Students: cost of living is soaring and we can hardly afford to feed ourselves
Government: I hear you – how about higher fees and more debt? https://t.co/0K5v0nRDR5
— Zack Polanski (@ZackPolanski) October 20, 2025
In an interview on LBC, Polanski stated:
University should be a right and not a privilege, and I thinks it’s outrageous that we have tuition fees at all, never mind them going up and up and up.
The Greens came second several major university cities back in the last general election. These included Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield. Following that, YouGov polling shows that the party has a strong appeal for the youth vote:
The party is more attractive to younger Britons, with 36% of 18-24 year olds and 27% of 25-49 year olds saying they would contemplate voting Green, compared to 15% of 50-64 year olds and just 10% of those aged 65 and over.
Again, Labour’s Luke Charter has proposed a change to student finance that’s very easy to get behind. It will likely help students manage their money a little more easily, and it would cost next-to-nothing to implement.
However, given the Greens’ appeal to students who are hungry for real change, you’d think a complacent Labour might want to dream bigger than cosmetic changes to student loans. After all, they’re worth little in the face of the rising cost of tuition, and earlier and greater loan repayments.
Featured image via the Canary/Unsplash
From Canary via This RSS Feed.