Students told to learn the lessons of borrowing money

Undergraduates have been warned by a financial expert that they must learn the lessons of borrowing money.

The news that defaults on student-loan repayments will be passed onto credit agencies is not necessarily a bad thing, claimed Samantha Owens, the Head of Personal Finance at Moneyfacts.

Graduates must realise that they will be unable to miss mortgage repayments in the future and so student loans serve as an important lesson in finance, Ms Owens stated.

'Students are intelligent people; they need to learn that finances need to be paid back,' she said.

Ms Owens suggested that it may not be right to treat those who miss repayments on their student loans the same as graduates who haven't missed any repayments.

The Student Loans Company is to begin passing on details of missed payments to credit agencies in a bid to discourage graduates from forgetting to pay these bills.