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Autumn Budget Student Benefits in Full

The autumn budget of 2017 came with a few surprises, not least of all attempts by the Conservative government to win over young voters that have eluded them for so long. It’s largely been accepted that students were drawn to Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour revamp in June, fuelled partly by a desire to see a soft Brexit and fed up with years of austerity of which they have suffered the most. The core Conservative vote is usually older people and the wealthy, but now the party is attempting to tantalise the younger vote too with the following policies.

 

Raising the Income Tax Threshold

When the coalition came to power in 2010, they raised the threshold for income tax payment to £10,000, nearly double that of the level it was under the previous government. The idea was to raise the lowest earners (including students) out of paying income tax altogether to free up money for rising bills. This threshold was further raised for the next tax year up to a minimum earning of £11,500. This means students who work during their studies will now have more money in their pockets.

 

Under 30s Railcard

One big announcement and one that raised a few eyebrows was the extension of the Young Person’s Railcard scheme to include those under the age of 30. It is expected that the new Under-30 Railcard will be available as early as Spring 2018, in line with the new tax year, and offer a hefty discount to an age group typically reserved for the under-25 age group. Around 4.5m people will be eligible when the scheme begins. If it will work in the same way as the under-25, the user may enjoy discounted rail until they are 32 as 29-year-olds may be eligible for three-year cards.

 

Tackling Student Loan Problems

This is the biggest one of all. Considerable problems with the Student Loans Company this year and last year meant that many students were overcharged on their loans. SLC was ordered to repay millions of pounds to students after it was revealed that in the tax year 2015-16, some 86,000 students were over-charged and the company repaid an average £592 to each student. It hit national headlines amid calls for a reform of the system. It may have even swung votes towards Labour when Mr Corbyn promised to look at ways of reducing historic student debt.

Most shocking, some were still making payments on loans that were paid off. However, this was not the fault of SLC, but of HMRC whose outdated system of notification meant that SLC received out of date information. The treasury announced a new digital system of communication to ensure SLC are given the right information and students charged accordingly.