A-Level results warning: putting off uni until next year could cost £10,000s more

MSE_Ben_S

School leavers getting their A-Level results this week should be aware that deferring for a year means they'll be on the new student finance system coming in England in September 2023, and will repay their loan for a much longer period, potentially costing £10,000s more. 

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Emmalcp

My son’s dad is paying for his first year fees and accommodation and has persuaded him not to apply for finance (bad idea I know) but if he applies next year for his second year, will he be on the new system or the old? Thank you!

RLTOD

I asked this question on the phone and they said the new system, but please double check.

jbrassy

Emmalcp said:

My son’s dad is paying for his first year fees and accommodation and has persuaded him not to apply for finance (bad idea I know) but if he applies next year for his second year, will he be on the new system or the old? Thank you!

If he starts University this year, he will pay according to the current system throughout his time at university. Basically, once you start uni, you're locked into that repayment system.

Ed-1

jbrassy said:

Emmalcp said:

My son’s dad is paying for his first year fees and accommodation and has persuaded him not to apply for finance (bad idea I know) but if he applies next year for his second year, will he be on the new system or the old? Thank you!

If he starts University this year, he will pay according to the current system throughout his time at university. Basically, once you start uni, you're locked into that repayment system.

While on the same course. Start another course (e.g. a PGCE) and the new loans will be on the new system

SwiftS

Ed-1 said:

jbrassy said:

Emmalcp said:

My son’s dad is paying for his first year fees and accommodation and has persuaded him not to apply for finance (bad idea I know) but if he applies next year for his second year, will he be on the new system or the old? Thank you!

If he starts University this year, he will pay according to the current system throughout his time at university. Basically, once you start uni, you're locked into that repayment system.

While on the same course. Start another course (e.g. a PGCE) and the new loans will be on the new system

My daughter is going to be in this position, starting PGCE in 2023. What I haven’t been able to find is any information regarding how the repayments would be split. Eg does she pay a bit of each loan for 30 years and then the rest of the PGCE loan for the next ten years. Or do you pay one first then move to the next? I wonder whether she will have made any payments to the PGCE loan by the time that it is the only loan still to be paid (if the first 30 years of payments are for the undergraduate degree)?

Ed-1

SwiftS said:

Ed-1 said:

jbrassy said:

Emmalcp said:

My son’s dad is paying for his first year fees and accommodation and has persuaded him not to apply for finance (bad idea I know) but if he applies next year for his second year, will he be on the new system or the old? Thank you!

If he starts University this year, he will pay according to the current system throughout his time at university. Basically, once you start uni, you're locked into that repayment system.

While on the same course. Start another course (e.g. a PGCE) and the new loans will be on the new system

My daughter is going to be in this position, starting PGCE in 2023. What I haven’t been able to find is any information regarding how the repayments would be split. Eg does she pay a bit of each loan for 30 years and then the rest of the PGCE loan for the next ten years. Or do you pay one first then move to the next? I wonder whether she will have made any payments to the PGCE loan by the time that it is the only loan still to be paid (if the first 30 years of payments are for the undergraduate degree)?

The regulations detailing these terms won't be made law until next year but this is the latest public response from DfE:

Turning to your point regarding allocation of repayments, guidance on how loan repayments are currently apportioned where borrowers have loans of
more than one type are available here under sections 5.3 through 5.5: 
https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1940/sfe-repayments-guidance-ay-22-23-v20.pdf
The government is currently considering how the loans for new borrowers from September 2023 onwards will fit into this framework and details will be published in due course.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/student_loan_reforms_and_who_the#incoming-2001998

The situation is changing all the time though as with inflation so high, the plan 1 (pre-2012) threshold will be higher than the plan 5 (post-2023) threshold by the time the plan 5 threshold is introduced and this is not what the government originally intended. So if repayments are split using 9% of the difference in income between the thresholds, it'll change how much goes to each loan in ways the government might not have originally intended (e.g. is it fair for only a small amount to go to the loan that lasts 40 years?)...

silvercar

Ed-1 said:

SwiftS said:

Ed-1 said:

jbrassy said:

Emmalcp said:

My son’s dad is paying for his first year fees and accommodation and has persuaded him not to apply for finance (bad idea I know) but if he applies next year for his second year, will he be on the new system or the old? Thank you!

If he starts University this year, he will pay according to the current system throughout his time at university. Basically, once you start uni, you're locked into that repayment system.

While on the same course. Start another course (e.g. a PGCE) and the new loans will be on the new system

My daughter is going to be in this position, starting PGCE in 2023. What I haven’t been able to find is any information regarding how the repayments would be split. Eg does she pay a bit of each loan for 30 years and then the rest of the PGCE loan for the next ten years. Or do you pay one first then move to the next? I wonder whether she will have made any payments to the PGCE loan by the time that it is the only loan still to be paid (if the first 30 years of payments are for the undergraduate degree)?

The regulations detailing these terms won't be made law until next year but this is the latest public response from DfE:

Turning to your point regarding allocation of repayments, guidance on how loan repayments are currently apportioned where borrowers have loans of
more than one type are available here under sections 5.3 through 5.5: 
https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1877/sfe-repayments-guidance-ay-21-22-v20.pdf
The government is currently considering how the loans for new borrowers from September 2023 onwards will fit into this framework and details will be published in due course.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/student_loan_reforms_and_who_the#incoming-2001998

The situation is changing all the time though as with inflation so high, the plan 1 (pre-2012) threshold will be higher than the plan 5 (post-2023) threshold by the time the plan 5 threshold is introduced and this is not what the government originally intended. So if repayments are split using 9% of the difference in income between the thresholds, it'll change how much goes to each loan in ways the government might not have originally intended (e.g. is it fair for only a small amount to go to the loan that lasts 40 years?)...

@Ed-1, the link to guidance doesn't work.

Ed-1

silvercar said:

Ed-1 said:

SwiftS said:

Ed-1 said:

jbrassy said:

Emmalcp said:

My son’s dad is paying for his first year fees and accommodation and has persuaded him not to apply for finance (bad idea I know) but if he applies next year for his second year, will he be on the new system or the old? Thank you!

If he starts University this year, he will pay according to the current system throughout his time at university. Basically, once you start uni, you're locked into that repayment system.

While on the same course. Start another course (e.g. a PGCE) and the new loans will be on the new system

My daughter is going to be in this position, starting PGCE in 2023. What I haven’t been able to find is any information regarding how the repayments would be split. Eg does she pay a bit of each loan for 30 years and then the rest of the PGCE loan for the next ten years. Or do you pay one first then move to the next? I wonder whether she will have made any payments to the PGCE loan by the time that it is the only loan still to be paid (if the first 30 years of payments are for the undergraduate degree)?

The regulations detailing these terms won't be made law until next year but this is the latest public response from DfE:

Turning to your point regarding allocation of repayments, guidance on how loan repayments are currently apportioned where borrowers have loans of
more than one type are available here under sections 5.3 through 5.5: 
https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1877/sfe-repayments-guidance-ay-21-22-v20.pdf
The government is currently considering how the loans for new borrowers from September 2023 onwards will fit into this framework and details will be published in due course.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/student_loan_reforms_and_who_the#incoming-2001998

The situation is changing all the time though as with inflation so high, the plan 1 (pre-2012) threshold will be higher than the plan 5 (post-2023) threshold by the time the plan 5 threshold is introduced and this is not what the government originally intended. So if repayments are split using 9% of the difference in income between the thresholds, it'll change how much goes to each loan in ways the government might not have originally intended (e.g. is it fair for only a small amount to go to the loan that lasts 40 years?)...

@Ed-1, the link to guidance doesn't work.

That was the link DfE provided but try this:
https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1940/sfe-repayments-guidance-ay-22-23-v20.pdf

SwiftS

Ed-1 said:

SwiftS said:

Ed-1 said:

jbrassy said:

Emmalcp said:

My son’s dad is paying for his first year fees and accommodation and has persuaded him not to apply for finance (bad idea I know) but if he applies next year for his second year, will he be on the new system or the old? Thank you!

If he starts University this year, he will pay according to the current system throughout his time at university. Basically, once you start uni, you're locked into that repayment system.

While on the same course. Start another course (e.g. a PGCE) and the new loans will be on the new system

My daughter is going to be in this position, starting PGCE in 2023. What I haven’t been able to find is any information regarding how the repayments would be split. Eg does she pay a bit of each loan for 30 years and then the rest of the PGCE loan for the next ten years. Or do you pay one first then move to the next? I wonder whether she will have made any payments to the PGCE loan by the time that it is the only loan still to be paid (if the first 30 years of payments are for the undergraduate degree)?

The regulations detailing these terms won't be made law until next year but this is the latest public response from DfE:

Turning to your point regarding allocation of repayments, guidance on how loan repayments are currently apportioned where borrowers have loans of
more than one type are available here under sections 5.3 through 5.5: 
https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1940/sfe-repayments-guidance-ay-22-23-v20.pdf
The government is currently considering how the loans for new borrowers from September 2023 onwards will fit into this framework and details will be published in due course.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/student_loan_reforms_and_who_the#incoming-2001998

The situation is changing all the time though as with inflation so high, the plan 1 (pre-2012) threshold will be higher than the plan 5 (post-2023) threshold by the time the plan 5 threshold is introduced and this is not what the government originally intended. So if repayments are split using 9% of the difference in income between the thresholds, it'll change how much goes to each loan in ways the government might not have originally intended (e.g. is it fair for only a small amount to go to the loan that lasts 40 years?)...

We’ll wait and see what the regulations say. This may mean she rethinks her plans and looks for an alternative career. This will result in a huge difference in payments for students starting a PGCE in 2023 compared to 2022. If they follow the current plan 1/2 approach where fees are owed under both plans, they will be paying 9% salary between £25k and £27k (approx figures!) for PGCE, then 9% of anything above that for their undergrad degree. After 30 years the undergrad degree payments stop but because they will have paid so little towards to PGCE those payments will continue for at least another 11 years (as 40 year payment period will start to run the year following the undergrad payment period). If she started in September 2022 everything would have been plan 2 (with payments starting from £27k and limited to 30 years. 

I’m afraid teaching has now become financially even less attractive than it was before. 

silvercar

SwiftS said:

Ed-1 said:

SwiftS said:

Ed-1 said:

jbrassy said:

Emmalcp said:

My son’s dad is paying for his first year fees and accommodation and has persuaded him not to apply for finance (bad idea I know) but if he applies next year for his second year, will he be on the new system or the old? Thank you!

If he starts University this year, he will pay according to the current system throughout his time at university. Basically, once you start uni, you're locked into that repayment system.

While on the same course. Start another course (e.g. a PGCE) and the new loans will be on the new system

My daughter is going to be in this position, starting PGCE in 2023. What I haven’t been able to find is any information regarding how the repayments would be split. Eg does she pay a bit of each loan for 30 years and then the rest of the PGCE loan for the next ten years. Or do you pay one first then move to the next? I wonder whether she will have made any payments to the PGCE loan by the time that it is the only loan still to be paid (if the first 30 years of payments are for the undergraduate degree)?

The regulations detailing these terms won't be made law until next year but this is the latest public response from DfE:

Turning to your point regarding allocation of repayments, guidance on how loan repayments are currently apportioned where borrowers have loans of
more than one type are available here under sections 5.3 through 5.5: 
https://www.practitioners.slc.co.uk/media/1940/sfe-repayments-guidance-ay-22-23-v20.pdf
The government is currently considering how the loans for new borrowers from September 2023 onwards will fit into this framework and details will be published in due course.

https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/student_loan_reforms_and_who_the#incoming-2001998

The situation is changing all the time though as with inflation so high, the plan 1 (pre-2012) threshold will be higher than the plan 5 (post-2023) threshold by the time the plan 5 threshold is introduced and this is not what the government originally intended. So if repayments are split using 9% of the difference in income between the thresholds, it'll change how much goes to each loan in ways the government might not have originally intended (e.g. is it fair for only a small amount to go to the loan that lasts 40 years?)...

We’ll wait and see what the regulations say. This may mean she rethinks her plans and looks for an alternative career. This will result in a huge difference in payments for students starting a PGCE in 2023 compared to 2022. If they follow the current plan 1/2 approach where fees are owed under both plans, they will be paying 9% salary between £25k and £27k (approx figures!) for PGCE, then 9% of anything above that for their undergrad degree. After 30 years the undergrad degree payments stop but because they will have paid so little towards to PGCE those payments will continue for at least another 11 years (as 40 year payment period will start to run the year following the undergrad payment period). If she started in September 2022 everything would have been plan 2 (with payments starting from £27k and limited to 30 years. 

I’m afraid teaching has now become financially even less attractive than it was before. 

That would be a shame if teaching really is her vocation.

Also, to compare the costs she will incur starting in 2023 vs a hypothetical scenario of starting this year is meaningless. You can only ever play the cards you are dealt, so if she wants to go into teaching it’s the costs in the year in question that count, nothing else. Add to that you are worrying about repayments in 30 years time, by which time the rules may have changed many times over and a few years of high inflation after graduation may have eroded the feeling that the repayments are a big chunk of pay. 

There are also alternative roads into teaching like the graduate teaching scheme and Teach First.