System needs complete change. Just reducing fees won't work because the current debt scheme is simply more attractive !
Look the massive Elephant in the room here is that we have an ever increasing student debt mountain that will NEVER get repaid - it's a total nonsense.
What they need to do is simply encourage/ make it more attractive to have more students paid up in full at the start and not on student loans. Ideas to do this could include:-
A) Introduce Employer Sponsored Degree Schemes
For Example:- I would be happy as an employer to take on a student that could work for me 3 days a week whilst on a university course 2 days a week to do a related degree and pay the student say £9k a year and University £6k a year for this to happen. You get the idea. Result: no debt, qualified student, student also paying some tax from the start, student has real experience and instantly VERY employable at the end, win win win
* Degree would probably need to be over longer period
* similar scheme could be introduced at A level also
* Not possible currently as Jonny has 12 hrs of sessions split up all week in dribs and drabs. Even extending the time period to do it won't work unless a radical change is made to how the degree is taught
B) Bank of Mum and Dad
Look let's face it the students are not really paying anything are they, It's debt they taking out! This is what HMG need to reduce. So If you reduce the fees to £6k without a student loan instrument then it would down to bank of mum and Dad to pay it however:-
* Currently I could pay if I wanted my children's fees at say £6k a year. Not everyone could do this I grant you, however it's just not worth it. The debt scheme is far far more attractive because it NEVER has to be repaid, well at twopence-halfpenny when they earn over £25k a year so what's the point?
* I might consider it IF a) a big discount was availalable for paying in full at the start and NOT on student finance And/or b) perhaps offset against tax etc
C) just to be controversal: Public School / Independent School student parents could contribute to their kids fees?
Ooooh one for the socialists, not like me. However, there has to be an argument to say and deffo in Public Schools that if Jonny' s Dad has been paying £20k a year for him to study at Eaton he should continue paying at Oxford 100% of the fees to do the degree? and if parents are paying £9k a year fees for a "regular Independent school" then perhaps it's on the basis that they pay 50% of the Uni fees if they then go on to university - something along those lines?
Any one or all three of the above would impact/ reduce debt being carried out however it would appear that nobody in either party has a brain cell to actually think of ways to totally change the debt situation - which should be the key focus!