At the end of three years at University, the average student in England is £20,000 in debt and many can add a significant sum on top of that. These numbers could sky rocket in the coming years, with some politicians considering raising top-up fees even further, meaning students could be saddled with £50,000 of debt or more for just an undergraduate course.

For many people, this is a reason not to go to University. £20,000 for three years and a qualification, is it really worth it?

That question is a little difficult to answer, the government would say yes very quickly as it's been trying to get more students to go to university for decades and so far has succeeded admirably. The best advice should be simply, do you want to go? If so, go, if you're not sure, what do you want to do? If it's something that will almost certainly require a degree, you should go, if it's not and you don't want to go, then don't.

The important thing to remember is that the debt that comes as part of a student loan is not like personal loans that you might get from a bank. Of course you have to pay it back, but the interest rate is not particularly high and the government is never going to be knocking on your door asking for the money back and you're never going to be credit blacklisted if you don't pay it (although, it should be remembered, not paying isn't really an option as it's usually taken directly from your payslip).

That's not to say that the debt should be taken lightly, far from it, but it's not yet at such astronomical levels where it should be considered a reason not to go. Many surveys have found that the average graduate earns a lot more than £20,000 which is more than the average person who didn't go to University, though there are admittedly a number of factors involved that don't necessarily include simply having a degree.

University is a financial burden, and often quite a financial stress, particularly when it comes towards the end of term and the student loan is beginning to wear out. If you have a good student account, however (check out Santander for very competitive student bank accounts) your finances shouldn't be too much of a concern providing you're careful.