Linked data on student debt open up new research opportunities

Coordinated by the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies (CLS) based at UCL Institute of Education (IOE), this linkage of student loans records to Next Steps survey data will allow researchers to more accurately study how millennials in England draw on higher education loans. This will provide insight into the average levels of borrowing by university type, ethnicity, attainment level, socioeconomic background and region, among many other characteristics.

In addition, these data may offer some insight into issues related to higher education access and participation, such as how fear of debt may deter some young people from attending university.

Next Steps is a longitudinal cohort study which follows around 16,000 people in England born in 1989-90, collecting information about different aspects of their lives. The study began when the cohort members were 14 years old, with sweeps every year up until age 20, and then again at age 25. The age 32 survey is set to get underway this year.

The CLS data team worked with the Student Loans Company (SLC) to securely link the student loans data to cohort members’ survey data. The linked student loans data includes information on payments and repayments up to the end of April 2020 for more than 2,400 undergraduates, as well as data related to institution and course, academic year, country of study, home region and household income.

Dr Morag Henderson, director of Next Steps, said: “These student loans data have been linked to Next Steps survey data for the first time, allowing researchers to look at students’ loan repayments in the context of their employment status and income over a number of years.

“These newly linked data will help to improve our understanding of the costs and ensuing advantages of studying at university and may also help researchers understand the wider implications of student loan debt; how it relates to people’s current and later finances, and their chances of getting onto the property ladder.

“This information will further enrich studies on higher education and employment, informing policy and practice, as well as providing guidance to current and future generations of graduates.”

During the Next Steps Age 25 survey, CLS obtained consent from cohort members to link their survey records to administrative data sources covering education, health, economics, and criminal justice. Some of these linked data are now available, including linked NHS administrative data and linked educational records.

This latest development is part of a programme of data linkage work underway at CLS, home to three other cohort studies as well as Next Steps: the 1958 National Child Development Study (NCDS), the 1970 British Cohort Study (BCS70), and the Millennium Cohort Study.

Cohort members’ survey data and the newly linked student loans datasets are de-identified and can be accessed by registered researchers under a secure access licence through the UK Data Service website.

Links

• Next Steps
• UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies
• UCL Social Research Institute
• How to apply for access to these data

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Tony Slade for UCL Digital Media