The rate will rise from 4.5% to 12% for high earners and from 1.5% to 9% for low earners from September. That means an average graduate with £50,000 debt will incur around £3,000 in interest over six months. Interest rates on post-2012 student loans are based on the retail prices index.

Metro Mayor Dan Norris said the increases would add thousands to graduate bills at a time when many across the region were struggling with the rising cost of living.

He said: “West of England graduates are facing rising prices, tax hikes and now soaring interest rates. But rather than helping them, the Education Secretary is more worried about defending Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak’s breaking of lockdown rules. This is yet another symptom of a cost-of-living crisis designed, fashioned and made in Downing street. It’s time someone in the Government got a grip”.