For more information on repaying student loans visit Gov.UK website.
Repaying Your Student Loans
You will only start to repay your student loans once you have completed your studies and your income is above the earnings threshold. Your tuition fee loan and maintenance loan will be added together and paid back in the same way, with the same rate of interest applied. Repayments will be deducted from your salary if you are an employee. If you are self employed you will need to work out and make your own repayments.
Repayment and rates of interest vary depending on the year that your course started. You can pay back all or some of your loans at any point without having to pay an early repayment charge.
Students Starting Courses in September 2012 or After
Repayments
You will not be required to start paying anything back until the April after you have finished your course and only when you are earning over £21,000 per year.
You will pay back 9% of your income above £21,000. For example; your salary is £25,000 per annum, which is £4,000 above £21,000. You would therefore be required to pay back 9% of £4,000, which is £360 per annum. This works out as £30 per month.
| Annual Income | Monthly Repayment |
|---|---|
| £21,000 or less | No repayments |
| £25,000 | £30 |
| £30,000 | £67.50 |
| £40,000 | £142.50 |
| £50,000 | £217.50 |
If your salary drops below £21,000 at any point, your repayments will stop until you begin earning £21,000 again.
Any amount outstanding after 30 years will be written off.
Interest
You’re charged interest on your loan from the time you get your first payment in university until the time that the loans are paid off.
The rules about interest on student loans has changed for students starting their studies in September 2012. For these students the rate of interest varies:
| Annual Income | Rate of Interest |
|---|---|
| During studies | Rate of inflation plus 3% |
| £21,000 or less | Rate of inflation |
| £21,000-£41,000 | Varies between rate of inflation and rate of inflation plus 3%, depending on income |
| £41,000 or more | Rate of inflation plus 3% |
Students who started courses before September 2012
Repayments
You will not be required to start paying anything back until the April after you have finished your course and only when you are earning over £15,000 per year.
You will pay back 9% of your income above £15,000. For example, your salary is £21,000 per year, which is £6,000 above the threshold. You pay back 9% of £6,000, which is £540 per year. This amounts to £45 per month.
| Annual Income | Monthly Repayment |
|---|---|
| Up to £15,000 | No repayments |
| £16,000 | £7.50 |
| £21,000 | £45 |
| £30,000 | £112.50 |
| £40,000 | £187.50 |
Interest
Interest is charged from the time that you receive your first loan instalment to the time that the loans are paid back in full. The rate of interest is tied to the Bank of England base interest rate, and is currently 1.5%.
