Your 30-year debt lifecycle and AI-resilience risk, calculated.
01 — YOUR SCENARIO
Selected: Media & Journalism · typical course length 3 yrs
Repayment plan
For students starting Sept 2023 onward · threshold £25,000 from April 2026 · interest RPI (3.2%) · written off after 40 yrs · gov.uk ↗
02 — THE VERDICT
RED
Media & Journalism either never breaks even against the alternative path, or sits in a high AI-displacement bracket. Proceed with eyes open.
Break-even point
17 yrs post-grad
Total borrowed at grad
£51,750
Balance after 20 yrs
£85,113
🔒 unlock to view
03 — SALARY VS. LOAN BALANCE
Yearly gross salary against your loan balance — rising with interest, falling with repayments, until it's cleared or written off.
Y0Y15Y30
Gross salary
Loan balance
Still £95,506 owed at year 30 — written off entirely at year 40 under Plan 5, after paying £59,792 in repayments.
+85% above what you borrowed
04 — YEAR-BY-YEAR BREAKDOWN
The material impact, spelled out: gross salary, take-home after the 9% graduate tax, and what's still owed.
Year
Gross
Take-home
Repayment
Loan balance
Year 0
£22k
£19k
—
£54k
Year 2
£25k
£21k
—
£58k +7%
Year 5
£28k
£24k
£297
£63k +9%
Year 10
£34k
£27k
£819
£71k +13%
Year 20
£42k
£32k
£1k
£85k +19%
Year 30
£51k
£38k
£2k
£96k +12%
🔒 Years 10 / 20 / 30 unlock with the full report
05 — DEGREE PATH VS. ALTERNATIVE PATH
Media & Journalism doesn't strictly require a degree to enter. Cumulative net earnings, degree route vs. direct work / apprenticeship — the crossover is the moment the degree route pulls ahead.
Y0Y15Y30
Degree path (cumulative)
Alternative path (cumulative)
Crosses over at year 20 (17 yrs post-grad)
06 — AI-RESILIENCE
HIGH RISK
automation exposure for Media & Journalism
Confidence: High. Full driver analysis of task-level automation exposure for this role, sourced from occupational risk modelling.