In the UK, Student Loans are loans to assist the payment of education at a university or another educational institution. This loan is split into two parts, maintenance and tuition loan and is given by Student Finance England (SFE).

APPLICATION PROCESS

The tuition fee can vary and depends on the cost of your degree/course. The current cost of a university degree is £9,250 per year and is subject to change. The tuition loan is paid directly to your university in three instalments depending on your course.

The maintenance loan is a means-tested loan. This means that the amount of loan that you're eligible to receive depends on your parents' income levels. The higher their income levels, the less you'll be eligible to receive. Your parents will have to send proof of their income from the previous tax year for you to get your loan approved. If you do not live with your parents, you are able to apply for a maintenance loan based on your income level under estrangement. This estrangement application tells SFE that you are not in contact with your parents and have to prospects of regaining contact with them in the near future.

‍Click here to read more about Estrangement eligibility.

Tuition and maintenance loans are repayable unless otherwise stated. If you are lucky enough to receive a grant or scholarship whilst at university then that money is yours, you don't have to pay it back.

REPAYMENT PROCESS

Similar to the personal tax allowance, there is an income threshold that you have to reach before you start making any repayments on your student loan. The threshold is £26,575 a year, £2,214 a month or £511 a week from April 2020. If you earn under this amount, you will make no payments towards your student loan.

Any income you earn over this amount, you will pay 9% towards your student loan repayment.

Example:

£26,575 = £0 monthly repayment  

£28,000 = £10 monthly repayment  

£31,000 = £33 monthly repayment  

£34,000 = £55 monthly repayment

Don't worry about trying to make these repayments, they will be deducted from your paycheck the same way national insurance and income tax is.

Interest is charged from your first student loan instalment payment and is in line with the rate of inflation at the time. You make repayments for 30 years at which point your loan get cancelled and your payments stop. If you still have part of your loan owing at that point, it'll get written off.

If you choose to work abroad for more than 3 months, you have to make the Student Loans Company aware of your departure. You will still be entitled to pay 9% of the income you earn abroad over the threshold. Be sure to check what the income threshold is in the country that you are working in because that amount can differ.

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