Student Loans Company Agressive Letter

[BuffetSlayer]

not necessarily... depends how they're accounting for those numbers

there are plenty of roles that don't require degrees that are taken up mostly by graduates including legitimate professions - for example there are routes to becoming a chartered accountant, an actuary and a solicitor without being a graduate - though most people entering those professions will be graduates

there are highly paid sales/advisory roles like stockbroker, financial advisor, recruitment consultant - the first two require some rather basic exams below degree level and the last doesn't require anything - they're still often pursued by graduates even though they're technically overqualified

who does your 47% include - does it include recruitment consultants? Does it include accountants?

The ONS define it as:

Nearly half of employed recent graduates were working in a non-graduate role

Professors Peter Elias and Kate Purcell at the University of Warwick have defined a non-graduate job as one in which the associated tasks do not normally require knowledge and skills developed through higher education to enable them to perform these tasks in a competent manner

Examples of non-graduate jobs include receptionists, sales assistants, many types of factory workers, care workers and home carers.

Using this definition of a non-graduate job and focusing on recent graduates who were employed, the percentage of them who were working in one of these roles has risen from 37% in April to June 2001 to 47% in April to June 2013. Although this time series is variable, an upward trend is evident, particularly since the 2008/09 recession. This may reflect lower demand for graduate skills as well as an increased supply of graduates.

I should also note that that ONS define a 'graduate' as anyone with qualifications above A-Level, which encompasses:

19 November 2013
Office for National Statistics |


Background notes
1. Types of higher education that lead to a person being classified as a graduate:

• Higher degree
  
• NVQ level 5
  
• Level 8 Certificate
  
• Level 7 Diploma
  
• Level 7 Certificate
  
• Level 8 Award
  
• First degree/foundation degree
  
• Other degree
  
• NVQ level 4
  
• Level 6 Certificate
  
• Level 7 Award
  
• Diploma in higher education
  
• Level 5 Diploma
  
• Level 5 Certificate
  
• Level 6 Award
  
• HNC/HND/BTEC higher etc
  
• Teaching further education
  
• Teaching secondary education
  
• Teaching primary education
  
• Teaching foundation stage
  
• Teaching level not stated
  
• Nursing etc
  
• RSA higher diploma
  
• Other higher education below degree

 

[Freakbro]

Combine that with the latest report that the class system is still very much alive in this country...

Elite firms 'exclude bright working class'

So if you don't have the right accent or background you're likely to be overlooked anyway, or at least have to work harder and get better grades than your 'posh' counterpart.

Just makes a mockery of this arbitary goal of 50% of students to go to Uni.

We should have left it as it was, that you had Uni's and Polytechnics and the most gifted academically went to Uni and the more gifted practically went to Polytechnic, the rest went into the workforce and got trained by companies and we could afford a free education system.

 

[alx]

Something like 47% of the 12 million graduates* in this country are taking roles which do not require a degree and which they are over qualified for (translation = they are taking lower paid non-professional jobs and therefore providing less tax and in many cases not meeting the student loan repayment threshold).

Then there is the subject of saturation of the marketplace by graduates when there is no demand for them (IE media/arts/humanities), which links in nicely with the fact so many of them are working in elementary roles, often below the repayment threshold but have sometimes tens of thousands of pounds in student debt. Current working average is circa £45,000 of debt per graduate that started uni after 2012.

If, hypothetically, the cost of the loans is repayed via taxation on higher average earnings of graduates, fine. But then where does the money come from to cover the tax, in real terms, that the graduate has not paid into the Exchequer because their taxes have been used to offset student debt? Seems to me it is robbing Peter to pay Paul.

It is all well and good saying the equivalent in outstanding student debt will be recoupled via income tax - but that is not really what income tax is for is it? Furthermore that period of shortfall, however brief, has to be paid by someone or be translated into a cut somewhere else.


*ONS figures 2013

Do you have any actual figures for the sentence in bold? The repayment threshold is pretty low, but it would be interesting to see how many graduates were below it.

 

[Mr-White]

Never underestimate how useless the SLC company is, I paid mine off in February and they randomly took another payment, which I got my works payrole to stop any further payments going out. When I asked for it back they sent a completely unintelligible letter that I couldn't even work out whether they were or they weren't because they calculated the repayment incorrectly.

MW

 

[wordy]

This thread needs more rolleyes.

 

[Basher]

Never underestimate how useless the SLC company is, I paid mine off in February and they randomly took another payment, which I got my works payrole to stop any further payments going out. When I asked for it back they sent a completely unintelligible letter that I couldn't even work out whether they were or they weren't because they calculated the repayment incorrectly.

MW

Did they not ask you to take the payments to DD some time before the final payment was due?

 

[tres]

Never underestimate how useless the SLC company is, I paid mine off in February and they randomly took another payment, which I got my works payrole to stop any further payments going out. When I asked for it back they sent a completely unintelligible letter that I couldn't even work out whether they were or they weren't because they calculated the repayment incorrectly.

MW

They don't randomly take a payment, your employer left the student loan code on your payroll.

No excuse for their useless communication though.

 

[sports_brah]

Combine that with the latest report that the class system is still very much alive in this country...

Elite firms 'exclude bright working class'

So if you don't have the right accent or background you're likely to be overlooked anyway, or at least have to work harder and get better grades than your 'posh' counterpart.

Just makes a mockery of this arbitary goal of 50% of students to go to Uni.

We should have left it as it was, that you had Uni's and Polytechnics and the most gifted academically went to Uni and the more gifted practically went to Polytechnic, the rest went into the workforce and got trained by companies and we could afford a free education system.

That kind of makes sense to be honest. Lots of client facing roles require a finesse that is more likely to be absent. Kind of required.

Thats not to say certain segments universally don't have it, but you are more likely to have the airs and graces from a higher socioeconomic backgrou d.

Which I'm not, I just picked up a radio 4 accent hahaha

 

[Kemik]

Combine that with the latest report that the class system is still very much alive in this country...

Elite firms 'exclude bright working class'

That's a load of tosh for accountancy firms. Being an alumni of a Big Four, we had maybe the odd one or two that were born with a silver spoon, the rest of us come from alsorts of Universities and degrees.

 

[Skidder]

I wont be paying any of mine back.

And I took the maximum available



Good on him.

I've got a £250k pension / landed investment portfolio but won't be paying any of the loan back as I'll ensure I always draw down less than £21k in my retirment (I'm currently drawing £18k a year).

Do you mean you have never paid any back at all? Or do you mean that you haven't paid any back since you constructed an early retirement situation?

It's ridiculous to state you have paid more tax in your working life than someone ever will.

It's pretty ridiculous to wave your tax-willy about in the first place.

 

[Mr-White]

Did they not ask you to take the payments to DD some time before the final payment was due?

No as I paid off a lump sum

They don't randomly take a payment, your employer left the student loan code on your payroll.

The payments stopped as I asked my work's payroll to let me know as soon as they received the stop code.

MW

 

[Deleted member 66701]

Do you mean you have never paid any back at all?

I've paid nothing back as I'm still drawing on the loan - I'm still doing the degree - just completed yr 1, start yr 2 in Sept.

Or do you mean that you haven't paid any back since you constructed an early retirement situation?

No - I retired, got restless, decided to do a degree. The retirement came first before the idea of doing a degree was even concieved.

It's ridiculous to state you have paid more tax in your working life than someone ever will.

Not if it's true.

It's pretty ridiculous to wave your tax-willy about in the first place.

He started it!

 

[dowie]

Not if it's true.

which it likely isn't as has already been pointed out...

 

[dowie]

Combine that with the latest report that the class system is still very much alive in this country...

Elite firms 'exclude bright working class'

So if you don't have the right accent or background you're likely to be overlooked anyway, or at least have to work harder and get better grades than your 'posh' counterpart.

it has very little to do with accent - if you read the report again you'll see the biggest factor is targeting recruitment towards the top universities - top universities have a disproportionate number of of students from private schools, firms wanting to recruit from top universities will then also have a disproportionate number of privately educated staff too

Just makes a mockery of this arbitary goal of 50% of students to go to Uni.

We should have left it as it was, that you had Uni's and Polytechnics and the most gifted academically went to Uni and the more gifted practically went to Polytechnic, the rest went into the workforce and got trained by companies and we could afford a free education system.

leaving it as it was would mean the situation you're complaining about would be even worse

 

[Tefal]

Combine that with the latest report that the class system is still very much alive in this country...

Elite firms 'exclude bright working class'

So if you don't have the right accent or background you're likely to be overlooked anyway, or at least have to work harder and get better grades than your 'posh' counterpart.

Just makes a mockery of this arbitary goal of 50% of students to go to Uni.

We should have left it as it was, that you had Uni's and Polytechnics and the most gifted academically went to Uni and the more gifted practically went to Polytechnic, the rest went into the workforce and got trained by companies and we could afford a free education system.

but that article has nothing to do with background but that firms typical focused their recruiting on Russell group unis.

 

[Efour]

Yeah but everyone KNEW this anyway. You can naively ignore it and get on with your lives or rage about it. Its always been who you know, not what you know at the very top.

They say they prefer applicants with a more wider life experience and set of social skills. The kind of skills you get from School Skiing trips, Black tie dinners and Balls and fagging

You can throw thousands of pounds at your kids private education but if you still have no connections its a huge struggle.

 

[Skidder]

I've paid nothing back as I'm still drawing on the loan - I'm still doing the degree - just completed yr 1, start yr 2 in Sept.



No - I retired, got restless, decided to do a degree. The retirement came first before the idea of doing a degree was even concieved.




Not if it's true.



He started it!

I think that is appalling personally. My wife has just done a masters degree because she was not working and wanted to keep her mind active, I paid for it rather than trying to manipulate the system. If your engineered retirement plans don't leave you the flexibility to do things off your own back perhaps you were a little too eager.

If you're going to wave your willy at least make sure you have a semi.

 

[Basher]

If you're going to wave your willy at least make sure you have a semi.

Haha, def going to use this quote!

 

[Deleted member 66701]

I think that is appalling personally. My wife has just done a masters degree because she was not working and wanted to keep her mind active, I paid for it rather than trying to manipulate the system. If your engineered retirement plans don't leave you the flexibility to do things off your own back perhaps you were a little too eager.

If you're going to wave your willy at least make sure you have a semi.

I could have easily paid for it without resorting to getting a loan but overall you're qute right of course.

I'll have a good long think on it when I go out for a drive in the Westfield in the sunshine this afternoon, about whether I've made the right decision.

 

[Skidder]

Wow you never mentioned you had a Westfield.