How you repay your loan (now closed)

Student Money Week 2017

Jackie is here to answer any questions you have about repaying your student loans.

SFE Advisor for this Q&A

Jackie McGale, Repayment Manager

Jackie is a Repayment Manager at the Student Loans Company. She’s responsible for administering the repayment process in partnership with HM Revenue and Customs.

(edited 9 years ago)

Reply 1

tosocarolina

2

Good morning. I'm an Italian student and I received a conditional offer from the University of Oxford. As an EU student, I'm eligible for the tuition fee but not for the living costs support.
I wanted to ask how the process of repaying my student loan works if I'm an international student. How does it work with the local taxes? Will they start asking me to repay the loan as soon as I get a job? Will I have to pay the same amount of money every year?
It would be very kind of you to clarify all my doubts.
Thanks beforehand.
Carolina

Reply 2

suedonim

15

I hope I won't be one of them but quite a few people leave their course. Can you spell out what needs to be repaid and when if you leave a course and are unemployed, if you leave and find work and if you leave but start a different course the next year.

Reply 3

Jackie McGale

Original post by tosocarolina

Good morning. I'm an Italian student and I received a conditional offer from the University of Oxford. As an EU student, I'm eligible for the tuition fee but not for the living costs support.
I wanted to ask how the process of repaying my student loan works if I'm an international student. How does it work with the local taxes? Will they start asking me to repay the loan as soon as I get a job? Will I have to pay the same amount of money every year?
It would be very kind of you to clarify all my doubts.
Thanks beforehand.
Carolina

Hi, thanks for your question & congratulations on your offer to study at Oxford.
Your tuition fee loan would be due to be repaid in the April after you finish or leave your course. If you live or work abroad when you finish your course you need to contact us before you leave the UK so we can make arrangements for you to start repaying as you will make your repayments directly to SLC. Your repayments are based on your income and the repayment threshold of your destination country and will change as your income changes. . You can find a list of the overseas repayment thresholds at www.studentloanrepayment.co.uk. We will write to you and ask you to confirm your income on an annual basis and we’ll tell you how much you are due to repay each month. If you are not working or earn below the repayment threshold for your destination country you will still need to tell us but you won’t be expected to make repayments.

Reply 4

Jackie McGale

Original post by suedonim

I hope I won't be one of them but quite a few people leave their course. Can you spell out what needs to be repaid and when if you leave a course and are unemployed, if you leave and find work and if you leave but start a different course the next year.

Hi, thanks for your question.
If you’re a full-time student you will be due to start repaying your loan the April after you finish or leave your course.
The amount you repay depends on your income, not what you borrowed.
You’ll repay 9% of any income over the current threshold of £404 a week, £1,750 a month or £21,000 a year. You pay 9% of your income over the threshold. For example, if you’re paid monthly and earn £2,250 before tax you’ll repay 9% of the difference between what you earn and what the threshold is. So:
£2,250 - £1,750 = £500
9% of £500 = £45
So your student loan repayment would be £45 in that month.
If your income changes, either rising or falling, you repayment amounts will automatically change to reflect this.

If you leave your course and are unemployed you won’t be expected to make repayments. If this is the case, we will write to you and ask you to confirm your circumstances. It is important that you provide the information we ask for at the time so we can update your account
If you leave your course and start work and then leave your job to start another course then your repayments will stop.
Good luck with your course.

Reply 5

Jackie McGale

Did you know we have a playlist of videos you can watch here https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4wogSHG9Pv_kJDPvBxUUzs-B8ja793BE

I graduated last summer and haven't had any correspondence from the SLC (they don't have my updated address and I no longer have my account info). I am due to start a job next month which is over the £21,000 repayment threshold, will the deductions be taken off automatically like tax/NI or do I have to contact them?

Reply 7

Jackie McGale

You can find more information about repaying your student loan in our new repayment quick start guide http://slc-apps.co.uk/Quick-Start-Finance-Guide/Home.html

Reply 8

Jackie McGale

Hi, thanks for your question.

If you took your loan out before Sept 2012 and graduated last summer then you will be due to make repayments from April 2015. If this is the case then you have a Plan 1 loan and your repayment threshold is £16,910. You will be due to repay 9% of your income above the repayment threshold. If you are employed then HMRC will tell your employer to start taking deductions from your salary in April. If you took your loans out after Sept 2012 then you will not be due to start making repayments until April 2016, even if you graduated last summer. It is important that you contact SLC to tell them your new address. You can contact them on 0300 100 0611.