That's interesting smartguy and thanks for posting what you found out. Like you say the degree isn't really the useful part of this scheme.
So if you knocked off the £27K from an CTC or OAA course how much does that leave you having to fund out of your own pocket (inc living costs)?
The way I've been advised by someone in the know on these matters on the student loan is that in reality it's not a very onerous thing to have to pay back the way they have got it set up and to think of it as like another small tax on your wages.
So if you effectively discount the £27K the cost of a CTC or OAA integrated course would surely come down to something more like the cost of an integrated course, ie around £50K? I guess the disadvantage would be that you can't earn the money as you go along.