How and when will you pay this back?

The loan is repayable once you leave your course and start earning more than £15,000 a year. Deductions are usually made through the PAYE tax system by your employer in the same way as tax and National Insurance contributions.  Repayments are linked to your earnings, so the more you earn the more you repay; the less you earn the less you repay. So someone earning £20,000 a year would repay £8.65 a week or £37.50 a month. If you stop working, or your earnings fall below £15,000, then your repayments will cease.

It is important to know that:
If you have had four loans or less, you will have to repay your loan in 60 monthly instalments - the equivalent of five years.
If you have had five loans or more, you can repay your loan in 84 monthly instalments - the equivalent of seven years.
If you're feeling flush at any given time, you can repay your loan at a quicker rate by increasing your payments or by making additional payments - other people can even make payments for you, if you can find someone to do this.

The Student Loans Company will normally contact you in the February after your course has finished and will ask you to declare how much money you are earning. They will then calculate your repayment plan for you or grant deferment.You will then be sent an annual statement every September. This will show you the interest rate that applies, how much interest has been added during the year, how much you have repaid during the year and the balance outstanding.

Fee loans - While maintenance grants will operate under the same system for the academic year 2006/07, student loans for fees are also provided to pay for the exact amount of fees your course requires. In these the money is paid directly to your university or college.

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