The National Union of Students (NUS) has warned that a new three-year freeze on the salary threshold for loan repayments could leave new graduates struggling to afford food, rent and bills.

In Rachel Reeves’s budget on Wednesday it was announced that from April 2027, the salary at which graduates must begin to repay their student debt is being frozen at £29,385 for three years.

The measure applies to graduates with Plan 2 loans. This group started courses in England and Wales between September 2012 and July 2023. The threshold is currently £28,470 for this plan.

Alex Stanley, the NUS vice-president for higher education, said the measure meant the salary a graduate was earning when repayments began could be “dangerously close” to the minimum wage.

“Graduates are already facing a chall

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