It really depends
when you went to uni. My sister had free tuition and a grant. I had a small tuition fee and student loans (totally 9k at below inflation interest rate, now paid off). New students are unfortunately likely to face the kind of debt and terms you describe.
It’s a very sad situation. The conservative government have been running Britain into the ground since they took power after 10 years of very good governance by labour (reduced NHS waiting times, good economic growth, ability to deliver infrastructure projects in time and on budget, reduced crime, reduced child poverty, etc etc.) that was soured by the financial crisis. Then the conservatives grabbed power and shoved the country into reverse, doubling the national debt in the first four years through “austerity” policies designed to reduce spending that instead caused a double dip recession and negated any savings through reduced tax receipts. Then poverty and crime rose while the economy tanked and the social safety net and police and health services were gutted (my local area lost 1/4 of its police officers, for example). And all of that had to be blamed on Eastern European immigrants and Europe so we had Brexit.
David Cameron has to go down as the worst prime minister in the history of Britain. He’s been a complete disaster on every front. The current clown is just a sick result of Cameron’s incompetence.