As students up and down the country wait anxiously to receive their A-level results on Thursday, (August 18th) – they do so with the knowledge that if their next step is university, they will be paying dearly.

According to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), on average, English undergraduates paid around £6,000 in yearly tuition fees during the 2013-14 academic year. But, some universities in England have started telling potential students that their tuition fees will rise from next year, the first increase in fees since 2012.

New graduates in England face average debt levels of more than a third of the average mortgage, says research from The Money Charity, its report says that when students start paying back their maintenance and tuition loans, this year’s graduates will owe at least £41,000.

And, the debt issue is affecting students’ health, research from University of Southampton and the NHS out this week found that student debt worries are causing depression and alcohol dependency.

In an effort to help out the local teens who will be heading off to university, here are some tips as to how they may be able to avoid some of the debt.

1. Find a company who will pay for your degree

This is not as far-fetched as it might seem – these are sometimes called sponsored degrees.

A new degree developed by The University of Chichester and Peter Symonds College in Winchester has produced a BA (Hons) in Insurance. The academics worked with Be Wiser Insurance to create the UK’s first degree in Insurance.

Schemes vary, but this particular programme offers undergraduates a salary of £18,000 a year, and covers tuition fees to boot. Students are offered a management level job on graduation.

2. Study abroad

Brexit might mean that this option is not available for the full three years, but currently there are opportunities to study free (or very low cost) in; Germany, France, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Austria, Greece and more – visit www.topuniversities.com for more information.

3. Higher and Degree Apprenticeships

These are quite new and are similar to sponsored degrees and many universities are working in collaboration with businesses to offer these – they come in all sorts of roles and industries – early adopters include Airbus, Morrisons and Barclays.

Sheffield Hallam University has been working with Nestlé to create the ‘Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship’, which will give young people an opportunity to become the next generation of business leaders.

4. A full fee scholarship

Yes they do exist, but they’re a bit like an albino tiger…rare. A couple of examples we’ve found are offered by Newcastle University and London’s Goldsmiths university.

This year Goldsmiths had ten full tuition fee waivers - worth £27,000 each for Lewisham’s brightest talent, covering fees for three years. Use http://www.scholarship-search.org.uk to search for more of these.

5. Crowdfunding

Crowdfunding basically means that you are relying on the generosity of others, be they family, friends or absolute strangers, to pay for the university fees. This radical route seems to be most successful if you have a fabulous back-story, ask for smaller sums of money and offer something tangible in return. One successful crowdfunding student, Sarah Atayero from Luton managed to raise over £6000 from 210 ‘backers’ to help with her MSc at King’s College London – and she starts this September.