In partnership with the Insolvency Network

Student loans

Barclays have estimated that students could leave university with a debt of up to £33,000 by 2010.

Student loans, on their own, are not really a "problem debt" because the interest charged on them is minimal. There are currently over 2.6 million borrowers with the student loan company.

If you wish you can pay off your student loan quicker than initally planned but this would be an unusal decision because the rate of interest you pay on these loans is much lower than the rate you could get if the money was invested. If you are in the fortunate situation of being able to repay your student loan early you might be better off investing the money you were going to pay the loan off with in a high interest account.