Student Loan Question

itchyextremist

My mate, who used to work at the student loans company, says that you don't have to pay back your student loan if you complete the course successfully and if you do pay it back you only start paying it back once you start earning over £21,000 a year.

Is this true? It doesn't sound true.

GwylimT

You pay it back whether you complete the course or not, you either start paying it back once you earn £15k on the old system or £21k on the new system, you pay 9% of your earnings above these amounts.

somethingcorporate

A quick google of student loans gives the SLC website as the top result that will tell you all about it. http://www.slc.co.uk/

You'll need better research skills if you want to complete a degree successfully.

Babbawah

somethingcorporate wrote: »

A quick google of student loans gives the SLC website as the top result that will tell you all about it. http://www.slc.co.uk/

You'll need better research skills if you want to complete a degree successfully.

But . . . ! That website doesn't tell you about the real world ways that really smart students have found to avoid paying back any of their student loans.

It mentions nothing about how many £billions the SLC have so far written off on behalf of the taxpayer.

Ed-1

GwylimT wrote: »

You pay it back whether you complete the course or not, you either start paying it back once you earn £15k on the old system or £21k on the new system, you pay 9% of your earnings above these amounts.

It's not £15000 on the old system. That figure applied from 2005-2011. Since 2012 it has been uprated annually by RPI inflation and it will change again to £17335 on 6th April 2015 (it currently is £16910).

Loans taken out for courses that started in 2012 or later are repayed at 9% above £21000.

bbk87

Ed-1 wrote: »

It's not £15000 on the old system. That figure applied from 2005-2011. Since 2012 it has been uprated annually by RPI inflation and it will change again to £17335 on 6th April 2015 (it currently is £16910).

Loans taken out for courses that started in 2012 or later are repayed at 9% above £21000.

I am earning less than £16910 this year, yet my student loan is coming out of my wages.

Ed-1

itchyextremist wrote: »

My mate, who used to work at the student loans company, says that you don't have to pay back your student loan if you complete the course successfully and if you do pay it back you only start paying it back once you start earning over £21,000 a year.

Is this true? It doesn't sound true.

For loans taken out for courses that started in 2012 or later this is the case (whether or not the course is finished).

For loans taken out for courses that started before 2012, a different threshold applies (currently £16910) that changes on 6th April every year.

In other words the loans are income-contingent (or in other words, a tax).

Ed-1

bbk87 wrote: »

I am earning less than £16910 this year, yet my student loan is coming out of my wages.

What are you earning on a monthly basis? Divide £16910 by 12: do you earn over that amount?

If your earnings for the year are below £16910 you can claim back any repayments from SLC.

itchyextremist

somethingcorporate wrote: »

A quick google of student loans gives the SLC website as the top result that will tell you all about it.

You'll need better research skills if you want to complete a degree successfully.

I already have a degree, I was referring to a statement by a work colleague and I was checking that I wasn't paying back a student loan unduly. I used to pay about £8 a month when I was earning a little over £15,000. I was checking there wasn't a mistake. Using MSE is research.

somethingcorporate

Asking other people to find the answer for you is really lazy "research".

Plus there is absolutely nothing to say we are just making it up, it's an anonymous internet forum with no comeback if we get it wrong. There are countless examples of duff information being given out on MSE forums.

You should do your own independent research rather than just relying on a forum to find the answer.

If it is in a published article by Martin it would have more credibility but certainly wouldn't make it infallible. The only place to get the actual answer would be the SLC website where the rules are published by the company that administers the loan.

patanne

Your mate appears to be yanking your chain a little. Just keep your fingers crossed that the SLC keeps dealing with your loan. You could so easily land up in the not so gentle hands of a debt collector, as some of the older student loaners who are deferring (NOT IN DEFAULT) have.