Jo Johnson (Don’t scrap tuition fees, they have been a great success, 5 July) paints a distorted view. Whatever the merits of tuition fees, it is the way they have been managed that is a disgrace. George Osborne sold the tuition fee debt to the private sector, which obviously wishes to make a profit; originally fees were paid back with interest set at the rate of inflation. The well-off have no problem paying them off. No profit there. Those that struggle are the less well-off and those going into vital but relatively low-paid jobs such as social work, nursing and the public sector generally. They now face interest charges of up to 6% to provide the necessary profit. (The Bank of England’s interest rate is 0.25%.) So yet again the less well-off have to pay up for the private profit that the well-off can avoid. Not fair.
Dr Peter Estcourt
South Chailey, East Sussex
