Student Loans
FrequentlyAskedQuestions
This information is for English students considering starting
anundergraduatecourse from August 2023 onwards.
Questions
Getting a student loan
Do I have to take out a student loan?
What does a student loan cover?
How and when do I get the money through?
Can I apply for a bigger loan if I run out of money?
Is my student loan the same as those for students who started their
course before me?
When should I apply for my student loan? Isthere a deadline?
Repaying your student loan
When do I start repaying the loan?
How much do I have to pay back?
If I’m self‑employed, do I still need to repay my loan?
Can I take a break from repaying my loan if I’m short of money?
Can I get a refund if I’ve paid too much?
What happens if I don’t finish paying back the loan?
Can I pay back my loan early?
Common concerns
What happens if I don’t finish my course for some reason?
Will having a student loan affect my credit record?
Will having a student loan stop me getting a loan for acar or a mortgage
in the future?
Paying interest
Do I have to pay interest on my student loan?
How does the interest rate affect my loan repayments?
Moving house or away from the UK
Do I need to inform anyone if I move house either whileI’m studying or after?
Do I still have to repay my loan if I leave the UK totravel or live?
For more detailed information on student loans,
visitstudentfinance.campaign.gov.uk
Getting a student loan
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Getting a student
loan
Do I have to take out a student loan?
No, it is your choice. The student loans offered by
Student Finance England are designed for students,
but other sources of finance may be available. It is up
toyou to decide which method of funding your course
isright for you.
Getting a student loan
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What does a student loan cover?
There are two kinds of student loan: a Tuition Fee Loan for
the cost of your course and a Maintenance Loan to help
with living costs like accommodation, food and transport.
The amount of Maintenance Loan you can get depends
on your household income and where you live and study.
For each year of your course, you will need to apply for
theloans you need.
Getting a student loan
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How and when do I get the money through?
Your Tuition Fee Loan payments are paid directly to your
university or college at the start of each term. Maintenance
Loan payments are made directly into your bank account at
the start of each term. The first Maintenance Loan payment
will be paid once your university or college has confirmed
that you have registered.
Getting a student loan
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Can I apply for a bigger loan if I run out of money?
The maximum loan for your course fees is fixed and paid
directly to your university or college. Your Maintenance
Loan is means‑tested, which means the amount you can
borrow depends on your household income. If you claim
the maximum Maintenance Loan you can, it is not possible
to apply for more.
Receiving the Maintenance Loan termly rather than for the
whole year helps people to budget for the essentials like
rent, food and travel, as well as the more social aspects
ofstudent life. If you struggle with money, your university
orcollege may be able to help.
Getting a student loan
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Is my student loan the same as those for students
whostarted their course before me?
No. Your loan is known as a Plan 5 student loan and has
different terms and conditions from current students and
graduates, most of whom will have a Plan 2 student loan.
Plan 5 is being introduced in England for students starting
undergraduate courses from August2023 onwards.
Someone who is studying a postgraduate course, such
asa master’s degree or for a PhD, will have a postgraduate
loan. For more information, visit Repaying your studentloan:
Which repayment plan you’re on (
GOV.UK/repaying‑your‑
student‑loan/which‑repayment‑plan‑you‑are‑on)
Getting a student loan
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When should I apply for my student loan?
Isthere a deadline?
The Student Finance England (SFE) application portal
opens in March for those doing full‑time courses. Those
doing part‑time courses and short courses apply later in
the year. For the latest information on when it’s time to
apply and deadline dates follow SFE social media channels
and SFE campaign page.
If you are applying for a full‑time course, please complete
your application in good time to ensure you receive your
money in time for when your course starts. SFE works on
afirst come, first served basis so it is better to apply earlier.
However, it is possible to apply once your course starts;
the deadline for this is nine months after your course starts
if studying full time and there is no deadline if you are on
apart‑time course.
For the latest information on when it’s time to apply and
deadline dates follow SFE social media channels and
SFEcampaign page
Repaying your student loan
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Repaying your
student loan
When do I start repaying the loan?
If you complete a full time course you will start making
repayments the April after you finish or leave your course.
However, repayments will only start if you earn more than
the repayment threshold of £25,000 a year, which is £2,083
if paid monthly or £480 if paid weekly.
For those on part time courses, your repayments will
also start the April after you finish studying or leave your
course, or the April four years after your course started,
whichever is earlier.
If your course is one or two years, or you leave your course
early, you will not have to repay your loan until April 2026.
Repaying your student loan
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How much do I have to pay back?
The amount you pay back each month depends on what
you earn, not what you owe, and you only start repaying
once you earn more than the repayment threshold.
When you make a repayment depends on whether you
are employed or self‑employed and when you are paid.
Youdon’t pay anything on the first £25,000 you earn,
whichworks out at £2,083 a month or £480 a week.
Foranything you earn over this, 9% (9p in every £1)
isdeducted as your student loan repayment.
For those who are employed, repayments are automatically
deducted by your employer whenever you get paid and
at the same time as tax and National Insurance. If you
are self‑employed, your repayment is calculated from
your annual tax return and paid at the same time as
any tax you owe.
These examples are based on the most common situation
of being employed and paid monthly. If your annual salary
is £23,000, you will not make any repayments as your
monthly salary is £1,917, which is below the monthly
threshold of £2,083.
If your salary is £28,000, your monthly salary will be
£2,333, which is £250 over the monthly threshold of
£2,083. You will therefore pay 9% of the £250, which is
£22.50, but rounded down to the nearest pound, making
£22 per month.
Repaying your student loan
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Similarly, if your annual salary is £35,000, that is £2,917
per month, £834 over the threshold so you would pay 9%
on £834 which is £75 per month. All these calculations
are made on your gross salary, that is before tax and
NationalInsurance are deducted.
For more information on repayments visit
GOV.UK/repaying‑your‑student‑loan
Repaying your student loan
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If I’m self‑employed, do I still need to repay my loan?
Yes, if your earnings are above the threshold of £25,000
per year. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) will work
out how much you need to repay from your tax return.
Your repayments are based on your income for the
whole year. Ifyou’ve already made repayments from
asalary, HMRC will deduct them from the amount you
have to repay.
Repaying your student loan
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Can I take a break from repaying my loan
ifI’mshort of money?
No, that is not possible, if you earn above the repayment
threshold – £25,000 a year or £2,083 a month or
£480aweek – it is a legal requirement to make
repaymentson your loan. However, if your earnings fall
below the threshold for any reason then your repayments
will automatically stop.
Repaying your student loan
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Can I get a refund if I’ve paid too much?
Yes, you can claim a refund. There are occasions when
you could have paid more than you should – for example,
if you only worked part of the year, if you received a
bonus one month but your total annual income was
below the threshold, if your employer had you on the
wrong repayment plan or if you have finished paying
what you owe.
Visit Repaying your student loan: Getting a refund
(GOV.UK
/repaying‑your‑student‑loan/getting‑a‑refund)
formore information.
Repaying your student loan
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What happens if I don’t finish paying back the loan?
The terms of your student loan are that you are liable for
repayments for 40 years from the April after you graduate
or leave your course. If you still owe any, or even all, ofthe
loan at this point, the remaining amount is completely
cancelled at no cost to you.
Repaying your student loan
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Can I pay back my loan early?
Yes. However, we recommend that you take advice before
doing this as working out whether this is the best decision
for you can be complicated. There is no penalty for making
extra repayments, but once made they are not refundable.
Visit Repaying your student loan: Make extra repayments
(
GOV.UK/repaying‑your‑student‑loan/make‑extra‑
repayments) for more information
Common concerns
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Common
concerns
What happens if I don’t finish my course
for some reason?
The loan you have taken until that point still stands
and repayments will start from the following April,
assuming you earn more than the repayment threshold
of £25,000peryear. However, no‑one will start repaying
their Plan 5 loan until April 2026. You can make voluntary
repayments at any time if you wish.
Common concerns
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Will having a student loan affect my credit record?
No. Your student loan is not recorded as part of your credit
record, so does not affect your credit score. However,
credit cards, loans and mortgages etc are only agreed
subject to checking you can afford them. Your student
loan repayments, if you are earning enough to make them,
willbe taken into account when looking at affordability.
Common concerns
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Will having a student loan stop me getting a loan for
acar or a mortgage in the future?
No. Loans for items such as a car and mortgages are
agreed on a case‑by‑case basis depending on your
credit record and whether you can afford it. Having a
student loan does not appear on your credit record,
however, student loan repayments are likely to be part
ofaffordabilitycalculations.
Paying interest
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Paying interest
Do I have to pay interest on my student loan?
Yes. It is normal for interest to be added to most types of
loans. Interest is charged on your student loan as soon as
the first payment is made whether that is to you as part of
your Maintenance Loan or to your uni or college as part of
your Tuition Fee Loan.
The rate of interest on your loan is linked to inflation, set
at the beginning of each academic year and based on the
Retail Price Index from the previous March. The interest
rate on your loan will never be higher than the interest that
is added to loans taken from a commercial lender, such
as a credit card or apersonal loan that you might use
to buy a car.
Paying interest
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How does the interest rate affect my loan repayments?
Interest will affect how long it takes to repay your loan
completely, but it does not affect the amount you repay
each week, month or year as this is based on what you
earn, nothing else.
After 40 years, if you have not repaid all of your loan –
including the interest that has been added – then it is
cancelled, and your repayments will automatically stop.
Moving house or away from the UK
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Moving house or
away from the UK
Do I need to inform anyone if I move house either
whileI’m studying or after?
Yes. It is important to keep your contact details up to
date so you can be contacted if there are any issues
with your loan, both while you are studying and once
you leave education. Updating your contact details
with the StudentLoans Company is simple to do in
youronline account.
Moving house or away from the UK
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Do I still have to repay my loan if I leave the UK
totravel or live?
If you are out of the country for more than three months
after you have left education, you need to inform the
Student Loans Company (SLC) who will advise whether
you need to repay while you are not in the UK and how
much. The repayment threshold may be different in
other countries. It remains a legal requirement to make
repayments on your student loan if you earn over the
repayment threshold.