15 year old Student Loan in Scotland...has it disappeared...?

Jay_23

Hello there everyone, 

have come across these forums before and they seem to be very knowledgeable. 
Does anyone have advice, or could signpost the way to get some in relation to this?

2005-2009 I was at a Scottish university, as someone from Scotland/UK national, and through SAAS was given the Student Loan Company loans (I was a child and didn't understand it, just assumed it would work and was for the best to help me access a good uni with no supporting funds from family etc)

I was not able to complete my studies and dropped out due to loosing my apartment and not being able to afford to get by month to month. 

For the next few years I got letters asking for repayment, and in a job I took within a year or two, money was taken from my pay at a high rate. 
Since then - over ten years ago - I have been been below the threshold of repayment.

I am looking to get back into higher education, and to figure out and attain a good credit rating for the future. 

Does that loan still exist?
I read previously that if you contact the SLC, it counts as something against a timebar of sorts and they will pursue it again? How can I check without this? Is it possible to re-apply if going back to University? 
  
I will never be able to re-pay it I belive...are there grounds to ask for it to be dropped? I saw 80%+ will never be repaid in full, and I did not get the degree that was meant to allow for the job to repay it.

Any and all advise would be welcome!

Thank you. 

silvercar

@Jay_23 I’ll move this to the student board.

silvercar

Firstly, your student loan shouldn’t affect your credit rating.

Unless you can persuade student finance you have extraordinary circumstances, the general rule is that you can have funding for one complete degree plus one year. So if you now enrol on a 3 year degree course, they would allow funding for 4 years in total, including all your previous study. So if you dropped out in the first year you will be fine for another 3 years of study.

if however, you only dropped out in your final year, then you’ve had 4 years of funding already so would only be eligible for one more year funding on a 4 year course or none on a 3 year course.