get a personal loan from a bank / parents (if lucky enough). That way you own the qualification and go out into the industry (possibly) unencumbered
Isn't that precisely how one would be encumbered? Sure, the best way is to save and pay as you go but a government loan in which you don't need to pay anything back until earning over 55k(ie. you can feed and house yourself) seems a whole lot better than almost embarrassingly owing money to your parents or hanging under a banks noose. All in all I agree with the jist of the thread, the fees are ridiculously inflated.