My debt will be around £8600 in tuition fees, plus £7500 for my student loan.

I came to university looking to better my knowledge and understanding to get a job at the end of it.
Now I realise that while I may have the skills and understanding for work, all my qualification tells anyone is how good I am at academia.

I hope when I go out into industry, employers will see how good I am at a job, and not how terrible I am at academia.

I was very lucky. I got in the last year before fees. I came out with £1k overdraft and £1.5k loan. I then got a job offshore by teh October and was working massive overtime so I didn't have any chance to spend the money. I paid off my debts in no time.

+ a lot in interest

The interest is only inflation, though, non? At the moment it's 0% for new-style (post 1998) SLC loans.

When really, following their own rules, it should be in negative. Something tells me they won't arbtrarily halt the interest increases should the rate of inflation spiral the other way.

I know not relevant, but it is -0.4% for pre-1998 Mortgage-style loans.

inflation +1% IIRC

still works out around £100 a month or something from memory