Getting UK students to repay their student is already proving a challenge for organisation like the Student Loans Company. So imagine what joy the Inland Revenue and Treasury face in the future trying to recover the debts of EU students who have studied in the UK. Until now these students (90,000 and growing) have had to pay part of their tuition fees upfront, with the UK taxpayers picking up the bulk of the tab (estimated to exceed £250m p.a.). Now under the Top-Up-Fees regime they will not have to make any repayments until their income exceeds £15K. How the UK government plans to track the income of students, many of whom will live and work outside the UK (and EU) is mystery no-one seems able to explain.
Not to worry, if the debt isn’t repaid within 25 years the government plan to write it off. While this is a serious structural problem we suspect it is only a matter of time before some bright spark at the British Council or Universities UK decides that in order to remain competitive in the international education market, all fee paying foreign students should also be allowed to repay their fees in the same way. Trying to assess the taxable income of a Chinese national who graduated from a UK university, but who works in Shandong for a company registered in Macau, will be awkward to say the least.
