From 1990 to 1998 these were mortgage-style loans, which were aimed at helping students with the cost of living and repaid directly to the SLC.

From 1998, with the introduction of tuition fees in the UK, the SLC instead began providing loans under an income-contingent repayment (ICR) scheme.

[8] The first ICR debt sale was completed in December 2017 with English loans which entered repayment between 2002 and 2006 (inclusive).

This was due to a change in the way student loans were accounted for by the Office for National Statistics, meaning sales would no longer improve the public finances.

Following criticism and parliamentary debate, these arrangements were changed in February 2012 and Mr Lester was then paid through the SLC payroll.

[14] (In June 2014, Wonga had been ordered to pay £2.6 million in compensation for sending customers letters from fictitious debt recovery firms.[15]).