Postgraduate loans 2016/2017 starters

PixPop

Hi there,
I had to withdraw from my Masters after a month. I received the first payment of my loan. Will I have to pay this back straight away or will monthly payments be taken like my undergraduate degree?

Tonkski

The guide says:

"It's one reason those who are relatively near retirement, who don't have a degree and want one, will find doing one very appealing. This is because unless they've a huge pension, they know they'll never have to repay."

and

"...if you were aged 59 taking a course, unlikely to ever go back to full-time employment and living off pension earnings of under £21,000, you'd never need to repay this cash, so borrowing more would be a big win – at taxpayers' expense."

My reading of the guidance is that the size of your occupational pension income makes no difference to repayments - it isn't normally considered, unless it is subject to NIC1 payments or you have to complete tax self-assessment with unearned income of more than £2000. See under the heading "Student Loan deductions and Occupational Pensions" at the student loan repayment website FAQ for Plan 1 (sorry, can't post links yet). I can’t find any information published about Plan 2 and pension income.

Is my interpretation correct?

Ed-1

Tonkski wrote: »

The guide says:

"It's one reason those who are relatively near retirement, who don't have a degree and want one, will find doing one very appealing. This is because unless they've a huge pension, they know they'll never have to repay."

and

"...if you were aged 59 taking a course, unlikely to ever go back to full-time employment and living off pension earnings of under £21,000, you'd never need to repay this cash, so borrowing more would be a big win – at taxpayers' expense."

My reading of the guidance is that the size of your occupational pension income makes no difference to repayments - it isn't normally considered, unless it is subject to NIC1 payments or you have to complete tax self-assessment with unearned income of more than £2000. See under the heading "Student Loan deductions and Occupational Pensions" at the student loan repayment website FAQ for Plan 1 (sorry, can't post links yet). I can’t find any information published about Plan 2 and pension income.

Is my interpretation correct?

Yes you're right. For some reason MSE think pension income counts.

Tonkski

Can anyone from MSE comment please?

agrinnall

Tonkski wrote: »

Can anyone from MSE comment please?

Have you informed them of the error? It's very unlikely that they will see it here.

Tonkski

Ah, sorry I'm new here. I thought the forum was the way to contact them - I was directed here by a link in the original guide. What's the right way please?

agrinnall

I was going to say click on the Contact us link at the bottom of the page but it doesn't seem to be working at the moment. Hopefully that's a temporary glitch and it will eventually work again.

Musto_man

My physiotheraphy postgraduate Masters will cost 12K per year and there are 2 years. I am only 21. The student finance England company only offer around 5K per year. How best should I make up my funding loss or should I just approach a bank for all the money. The 12K doesn't include any living allowance. Any thoughts please?

silvercar

Tonkski wrote: »

Ah, sorry I'm new here. I thought the forum was the way to contact them - I was directed here by a link in the original guide. What's the right way please?

Contact the forum team using forumteam@moneysavingexpert.com

CakeCrusader

Musto_man wrote: »

My physiotheraphy postgraduate Masters will cost 12K per year and there are 2 years. I am only 21. The student finance England company only offer around 5K per year. How best should I make up my funding loss or should I just approach a bank for all the money. The 12K doesn't include any living allowance. Any thoughts please?

Have you applied to your Uni for a Scholarship? A Masters is usually one year, not two, so if this part time? You should be able to work as well as study if this is the case.