The statistics, released by the Student Loans Company (SLC) and Scotland's Chief Statistician show that there were 370,000 borrowers at the end of 2007-2008, an increase of five per cent on the previous year. The average outstanding balance owed by students was £5,500. The total outstanding balance of student loans owed at the end of the 2007-2008 was over £2b, an increase of 11 per cent on the previous year.

Labour has slammed the SNP for presiding over rising student debt despite its pledges to ‘write off student debt and replace loans with grants’ prior to last year’s election.

Claire Baker MSP, Labour's Higher Education and Student Support Spokesperson, said:

"These figures are damning. They show in the starkest manner the emptiness of the SNP 's rhetoric."

"The SNP's manifesto promised to 'dump the debt' but these stats show an increase of over £200m in the amount owed by students to the Government.

"Under the SNP it's students who are being dumped on by the government with the highest levels of student debt ever in Scotland, breaking the £2b barrier for the first time."

Baker added: "The SNP continually boast of returning free education to Scotland but these figures show the reality. Students and graduates across Scotland have been let down by the government.”

But SNP MSP Aileen Campbell has called on Labour to recognise its responsibility for student debt and the Graduate Endowment fee and to apologise to Scotland’s students.

Campbell said;

“This is yet another boomerang from Labour and Scotland’s students will see it for the hypocrisy and dishonesty it is.

“Today’s figures reflect the appalling legacy of over ten years of a Labour Government which forced students into debt to fund their education.

“Instead of crying crocodile tears over Scotland’s students, Labour should apologise for inflicting on them the £2289 debt burden of the Graduate Endowment tuition fee.

“Had Labour remained in Government students would have continued to have over £2000 added to their debts. As it is, the SNP have scrapped the Graduate Endowment relieving students of that additional burden, and average student debt at graduation has fallen from £11,416 under Labour in 2006 to £10,947 under the SNP in 2007.

“But Scottish students should never forget that Labour and the Tories ganged up in an unholy alliance and attempted to retain the unfair tax on learning by voting against the SNP Government’s legislation to abolish the Graduate Endowment fee and reintroduce the principle of free education."

Conservative Spokesperson for Education and Lifelong Learning, Murdo Fraser MSP however criticized both the SNP and Labour on the figures.

Fraser said:

“Make no mistake, Labour’s record in this area left a lot to be desired but there is no doubt that, despite all the pre-election promises from the SNP to 'wipe out student debt', today’s figures prove the debt burden affecting Scottish students continues to rise. Of course, this is only part of the picture as these figures do not cover borrowing on overdrafts, personal loans or credit cards, which in many cases will exceed the student loan debt.

“Students will not thank either Labour or the SNP for being more interested in taking pot-shots at each other when this troubling issue is still yet to be resolved. The SNP have let Scotland's students down. Their pre-election pledge has been exposed as yet another broken promise. The SNP should apologise to Scottish students for misleading them with a policy which they had no intention of delivering.”