If you’re able to clear your debt in one go, or make extra student loan repayments, there’s no penalty for doing so. You should check when the loan will be written off before repaying or making extra payments.
Once you earn over a certain limit, you’ll automatically start paying back your student loan. This is done through your employer and will be the minimum amount you need to pay back. Even if you left your course early, you’ll need to repay anything you borrowed from the Student Loans Company (SLC).
When you’ll need to start paying your student loan back depends on what kind of student loan plan you have.
You’ll need to repay maintenance loans, tuition fee loans and postgraduate loans. If you received any bursaries or grants, these don’t need to be paid back – unless you were overpaid.
Alongside payments through your employer, you can make extra repayments. This can help clear the debt faster and will eventually mean you no longer need to make the minimum repayments – leaving you with more money each month.
You’ll need to contact the SLC beforehand and then you’ll be able to make extra payments through bank transfer, Direct Debit or by cheque.
If you don’t want to make extra repayments, you don’t have to. You’ll need to keep paying the minimum amount if you’re earning over the threshold, but you don’t have to overpay if you don’t want to.
If you want to clear the whole debt at once and you can afford to, there’s an option to pay off your loan in full. If you’re employed, you’ll need to have your latest payslip.
You’ll need to contact the SLC who will tell you your settlement amount (the total you need to pay) and the settlement date (the date it needs to be paid by). You’ll then be able to pay this by bank transfer, with your debit card over the phone, or by cheque.
If you don’t pay off the settlement amount by the settlement date, you’ll need to contact SLC again. This is because the amount you owe may have changed.
If you’ve made too many payments to the SLC, you should be able to get the money refunded. They may contact you directly to let you know how to get a refund, or you may need to contact them.
Before you make additional payments on your student loan, consider any other debts you have and if it'd make sense to clear them first. These could be debts which charge a higher interest rate and are ultimately costing you more money.
