Student Loan Repayment
Student loans have become something of a myth for most students, the fearmongering and false information is enough to put any student off.
A student loan repayment is an easy thing to work out and surprisingly, there is an easy way to tell what you will and won't be paying back.
What is student loan repayment?
A student loan repayment is money that you are given by the Student Loans Company (SLC) that you are required to pay back.
When you start at university, you will have a student loan, which includes a Maintenance Loan and tuition fees, this, has to be paid back, usually over a long period of time after you’ve graduated.
The length of the repayment term all depends on where you are studying; fior instance, studying in Scotland means that you have a longer repayment term than if you studied in England, Wales or Northern Ireland.
A student loan repayment can be forgiven in some circumstances, however, for the most part, the debt is forgiven if not paid back within the specified repayment time.
You are unable to choose which plan you fall onto as the plan you are put on is dictated by the amount you earn.
How much is student loan repayment?
Student loan repayments will start once you earn more than the thresholds that are set by the Student Loan Company which are: £382 a week/£1,657 a month/ £19,895 a year.
As wages are increased, the student loan repayments will follow accordingly, the more you earn, the more of the student loan you will payback. Student loan deductions are made before you are paid, like National Insurance contributions, so you won’t need to make the repayments yourself, they will be deducted automatically.
If you are paid weekly, student loan repayments will also be paid weekly; if you are paid monthly student loan repayments will also be deducted monthly. Student loan deduction will be only be shown on HMRC PAYE slip, it will not be shown on your payslip from your employer.
What are the different student repayment plans?
First of all, we need to work out which student loan repayment plan you are on. There are two types of student loan repayment plans and they both have specific criteria for you to fall into.
| Repayment plan | Repayment terms (all before tax and other deductions) |
|---|---|
| Plan 1 | When your income is over £382 a week, £1,657 a month or £19,895 a year. |
| Plan 2 | When your income is over £524 a week, £2,274 a month or £27,295 a year. |
| Plan 4 | When your income is over £480 a week, £2,083 a month or £25,000 a year. |
| Postgraduate loan | When your income is over £403 a week, £1,750 a month or £21,000 a year. |
At the time of writing, the interest is RPI + a further 3%.
You are unable to choose which plan you fall onto as the plan you are put on is dictated by the amount you earn.
A student loan repayment is money that you are given by the Student Loans Company (SLC) that you are required to pay back.
What is the average length of student loan repayment?
The average length of a student loan repayment is around 30 years. This is because a student loan is usually written off after this time if you have not paid it back.
Repayment of student loan is dependent on you earning over a certain student loan repayment threshold, as we stated in the table above, those who earn less than £27,000 will be exempt from repayments until their salary increases.
Student loan repayment rates may go up or down depending on interest rates and various political outcomes or policies, but the general rate is around 9%.
