Thanks for your article (Student loans: ‘My debt rose £20,000 to £77,000 even though I’m paying’, 23 January). The original premise was that student loans were a small, manageable contribution, easily cleared once you entered work. Unlike later student loans, there is no write-off after 20 or 30 years. The student loan debt is a part of the national debt. As a byproduct, such a simplified system would dramatically reduce the costs of the Student Loans Company.