Student loan repayment

For employees: The money is taken automatically from the payroll in the same way as tax (so it never goes in your pocket and there are no debt collectors).

If your salary's over £22,015 a year and repayments aren't being deducted, it's YOUR responsibility to tell your employer. Keep evidence of doing this as, if it doesn't start deducting repayments after you've asked, the possible fine of £1,000s will be your employer's to pay.

Repayments are given to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), which then pays the SLC every March. The SLC applies repayments as if it had received them monthly, so you don't pay more interest than necessary (but it doesn't look like that throughout the year).

For the self-employed/those with other income: If you are self-employed, you are responsible for notifying HMRC of payments when you do your self-assessment form.

If you have additional income of £2,000+ from savings interest, pensions or shares and dividends, this will also be treated as part of your income for repayment purposes and you'll need to repay 9% of that, again via self-assessment.

For those living overseas: You'll pay 9% of the amount you earn over the relevant threshold for the country you're living in. See more info on repaying from overseas and the SLC's income threshold table.

Have you nearly paid the loan off? If you're within the last two years of repayments, you can make the switch to pay by direct debit - rather than through PAYE. You can do this through your online account. When you have 12 months left, SLC will get in contact to suggest you do this, to avoid over-repayments - it's possible SLC will continue taking payments past the point that you've cleared the debts.

SLC will contact you again when there's three months left on your loan term, encouraging you to pay in full to avoid over-repayment. You'll need to call 0300 100 0611 to do this, but SLC are hoping to have this option available on your online account soon.

The impact on credit scores: None whatsoever. This type of student loan is not included on your credit report. However, when applying for a product you may be asked whether you have loans. Plus the fact your take-home pay is reduced may be taken into account (see the Credit Rating guide too).

Can I defer payment? No – but you only repay if you are earning above £22,015 a year. Other thresholds apply if you live overseas – see the SLC's table.

How to overpay: You can make a payment any time you wish, by card, cheque or bank transfer. See the SLC payments page for details.

Any changes due? In general, no.

However, those on 'post-1998' loans see their repayment threshold (how much you need to earn before you start paying) increase with inflation annually (based on the RPI inflation rate in March the year before).

This means you will pay LESS back each year (unless you have pay rises each year), extending the loan's life and potentially the total cost – but giving you more disposable income.

The Government is selling off the remaining £40bn of student loan debt it has (which includes these loans). It says this will not affect the terms of the loans, but it's important to understand the Government can change rules made in the past.