Did you take out a student loan to help finance your studies while you were in university in the UK? If so, you will need to consider repayment terms and conditions once you have completed your course. Repayment will depend on certain factors, such as when you started your course.
Courses that Began Before 1998
Students who started university after September 1998 will be required to repay their student loans based on what they currently earn, according to “Repaying student loans“, by Directgov. Once your income reaches, or exceeds, £15,000 a year you will need to start making payments toward your student loan, which will be collected straight from your salary. If you are self-employed or work abroad, you will need to make your own arrangements to repay the student loans.
However, if you have not reached this threshold, repayments will not commence until you make at least £15,000 a year. If your earnings dip below £15,000 a year, either through redundancy or a cut in pay at work, then repayments will stop until you have reached that threshold again.
Courses that Began After 1998
If your course commenced after September 1998, you will need to set up a direct debit from your bank account to pay off your student loan by making equal monthly instalments until the balance has been paid off, over a period of five to seven years. The amount of instalments you have will to pay back will depend on how many student loans you have taken out during your course.
Some graduates apply extra each month to help pay off the balance of their student loans even quicker. If you are experiencing financial difficulty, speak to the company that administers your student loan to see if you are eligible to apply for a postponement until you are in a better position to start repaying your student loans.
When Do Repayments Begin?
Student loan repayments begin on 6 April after you have graduated from university, or from the time you withdraw from the course without graduating, for students who started their course after 1998. For example, if you graduated in October 2010, your repayments will have started on 6 April 2011 and will continue until they have been paid off.
Student loans can help you to make it through your university course without having to worry about the necessities of life so much, but it is important to think long term and consider your student loan repayment obligations once you have graduated or withdrawn from your course. In order to repay everything faster you can always find a part time job or work as a freelancer writer to earn some extra cash.
