Bankruptcy boom

Some 900 students and graduates declared themselves bankrupt last year and avoided having to repay their student loans as a result. In 2002, the Insolvency Service decided that students could write off government loans when declaring themselves bankrupt. The number of student loan holders doing so rose from 6 that year to 899 in 2003. Under proposals passing through Parliament, students and graduates will no longer be able to write off the loan in this way. But those who still owe the government money 25 years after graduation will have their debts written off.