Welsh Government agrees ‘in principle’ to UK proposals to cap student loan interest at 6%

The Welsh Government has agreed in principle to the UK Government’s proposal for graduates to have their interest on student loans capped at 6% from September after mounting criticism over repayment costs.

Any formal decision to proceed in Wales, including regulations, is a matter for the next Welsh Government and subject to Senedd approval.

It comes as the UK braces for the economic fallout from the Iran war.

Vikki Howells, Minister for Further and Higher Education, said: “I am pleased to support the proposed cap on student loan interest rates because of the protection it will offer for student loan borrowers in Wales.

“A final decision on applying the interest rate cap for Welsh borrowers will need to be taken by the next Welsh Government, following the Senedd election.”

UK Government ministers said on Tuesday (April 7) the move would help “defend against the consequences of far-away conflicts in an uncertain world” by protecting borrowers from the risk of rising inflation.

Plan 2 student loans are those taken out for undergraduate courses and Postgraduate Certificates of Education since September 1 2012 in Wales, and between September 1 2012 and July 31 2023 in England.

Interest on these loans is paid at the rate of Retail Price Index inflation(RPI) from March preceding the beginning of the academic year in September, plus up to 3% extra depending on income, meaning the current maximum is 6.2%.

RPI for March 2026 is due to be published on April 22, and was 3.6% in February – an increase of 0.3% on last year.

‘Broken’

But from September 1 this year, the interest rate for plan 2 loans will be limited to 6% in the next academic year, England’s Department for Education said.

Plan 3 student loans, which cover postgraduate masters or doctoral courses for borrowers in England and Wales, will also be covered by the same cap.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has faced growing calls to reform plan 2 loans in particular after her autumn budget, in which she announced the repayment threshold would be frozen at £29,385 for three years starting from April.

Last month, she said the system was “broken” but indicated any changes were not an immediate priority.

At the end of April last year, some 5.7 million graduates were still owing debt, according to statistics issued by the Student Loans Company (SLC).

Between 2024 and 2025, the percentage of the total higher education loan balance attributed to borrowers on plan 2 schemes was nearly 80%.

Campaigners welcomed the move to prevent debts from snowballing but called for further action, including a raise to the earnings threshold at which repayments start.

Amira Campbell, president of the National Union of Students, said: “This Government have woken up to the unfairness of student loans, and are taking action to prevent our debts from spiralling further out of control.”

Impact

She added: “But this change cannot come alone. For most graduates, the impact on their day-to-day lives is felt through the repayment thresholds, which are being frozen for three years and will get very close to the minimum wage by 2030.”

Oliver Gardner, founder of the Rethink Repayment campaign group, said the cap would “go some way” to curbing loan balance increases but “the majority of the public agree that even an interest rate of 6% is far too high for an educational loan”.

“That is why our campaign is demanding a fairer student loan system that works for young people and gives them a realistic chance of paying back what they initially borrowed rather than watching their balances soar despite making significant monthly repayments,” he said.

Tom Allingham at Save the Student, a website offering free money advice to students, said the Government had provided some clarity to graduates but that borrowers on plan 2 and 3 schemes would still be charged “significantly more” than others.

“That a cap can be introduced, and Plan 2 and 3 graduates will still be charged significantly more interest than those of different generations, surely highlights the system’s deeply embedded inequalities,” he said.