Accountancy Students Need Debt Advice

More than a third of accountancy students want advice on how to manage their debt, according to research by the charity Chartered Accountants’ Benevolent Association.

When asked whether they would welcome debt management support, 34% of students polled said yes, while 32% said they had debt but believed they were managing it well, while 34% said they did not need help.

Kath Haines, CABA chief executive, said: ‘It does appear that issues such as the rising cost of living are hitting some students quite hard, and many that we speak to feel as though their debt is getting slowly out of hand, causing high levels of stress.

Haines added that CABA’s research ws carried out too early to show the possible impact of forthcoming increased tuition fees on accountants who train after graduation or undertake their training at college or university.

She said: ‘We don’t know yet how this will change the attitude of students to debt but, anecdotally, potential students appear to be quite worried. It will mean that the amount of debt they carry could increasse dramartically.’ Haines added that the biggest debt issue that CABA met among sudents was that they tended to leave it too longbefore asking for help and avice.

‘Often a few simple steps can have quite an effect on debt levels.’