What is a student loan?
A student loan is a borrowed sum of money you can receive when you attend college or university.

How do I receive the payments?
Applications for student loans go through your LEA (Local Education Authority) and the SLC (Student Loan Company). After they approve your application you will usually receive your loan in three instalments throughout your academic year. If your application is received late your instalments can be reduced to two or even one instalment.

How much will I get?
The amount you receive will be determined by factors such as; length of your study, family income, age and disabilities.

When should I start repaying my loan?
You start paying your loan back after you graduate and have an income of £15000 per annum of more. You may repay your loan before the set time if able.

How do I repay my loan?
When you have an income of £15000 or more, your employer will automatically deduct your payments to HM Revenue and Customs from your wages via PAYE or Self assessment. If you are abroad and therefore outside the UK tax system you need to provide the SLC with evidence of your income, if it is over £15000 you have to repay your loan directly to SLC (Student Loan Company).

What is interest?
Interest is a fee charged to the lender for borrowing money. The SLC adds interest to the total amount of your student loan every year you have an outstanding balance. The current interest rate for a student loan is 3.1% but is subject to change along with the country’s inflation. A student loan has an inflation cap of 1% over the standard inflation rate. If you are on minimum monthly payments every year you will barely make a dent in the actual loan, since you are just paying off the interest being added on. The sooner you can repay your loan the less you will end up paying back.

What is PAYE?
PAYE, Pay As You Earn, this means you can automatically get your loan and taxes deducted from your income. Your employer will receive the correct amount you owe from HM Revenue and Customs.

How long will it take me to repay my loan?
You repay your loan in monthly instalments, the monthly sum and period of time it will take depends on how much money you borrowed. You can arrange to pay off your loan early or make a single or several large payments. These will not affect your monthly payments unless of course you have paid of the whole loan and therefore you monthly payments would cease.

If my parents/friend/spouse are dealing with the repayment of my loan how do I arrange this?
You will need to write a letter of consent to the SLC, in the letter you should state the name of the person dealing with your account. They can then arrange payments with your referee.

My son/daughter/spouse/friend is currently away and SLC has sent a letter to them, can I contact SLC to make enquiries about their loan?
Unless your relative/family member has written you a letter of consent to make enquiries about their loan the SLC cannot under the Data Protection Act not discuss loans with a third party.

What happens if I have more than one job?                                                          
If you have more than one job, each of your employers will treat you as if you only have one job. In other words, they will each give you credit for the full £15,000 threshold, (before the 6th April 2005, this threshold was £10,000 a year) and make deductions accordingly.

Do I need to make repayments if I go abroad?
Yes. You make your arrangements to repay direct to SLC. You will need to provide us with evidence of your income for the financial year in order for us to determine whether you need to make repayments and advise you of your repayment schedule