Postgraduate Student Loans

Posted 26/07/2019

For some residents of the UK who studied at University, they will only have the main Student Loan that is commonly known of to cover tuition fees and maintenance and living costs. To go further with academic learning an individual can carry their qualification forward and apply for a postgraduate course. This will incur additional tuition fees and expenses for that person thus they can apply for postgraduate student loans to see them through their further education.

The postgraduate student loans for England and Wales students are repaid at a different rate to the basic student loan, which is repaid at 9% of total income (before taxes and deductions) above the loan repayment threshold. Postgraduate loans. For each individual, the postgraduate loan repayments are made on top of the student loan which means that more money will be repaid to the Student Loans Company each month than a person who took the undergraduate student loan. The following loans fall under the postgraduate loan repayment category:
1) Postgraduate Master’s Loan, taken out on or after 1st August 2016, for England and Wales students
2) Postgraduate Doctoral Loan, taken out on or after 1st August 2018, for England and Wales students
3) Postgraduate Tuition Fee Loan for Northern Ireland students
4) Postgraduate Living Cost Loan for Scotland students
The postgraduate master’s loan and doctoral loan are due for repayments from the first April after the student leaves the course or, if the student is studying part time, due 4 years after the loan is taken. These are calculated at 6% of the individual’s total income before taxes and other deductions above the repayment threshold, which can increase the total student loan repayments to 15% if they are repaying a Plan 1 or Plan 2 loan as well. The threshold for postgraduate loans is £404 a week, or £1,750 a month.
The postgraduate tuition fee and postgraduate living cost loans are payable under Plan 1 for undergraduate student loans.

An individual can reclaim a repayment if they think they have paid too much to the Student Loan Company during a tax year. These instances would be common where the income earned in the year changed such as due to a job change. For income received of less than £21,000 a repayment may be due on postgraduate student loans – this is £18,935 for Plan 1 loans and £25,725 for Plan 2 loans.
All payslips and P60 documents from employers will be requested for evidence of Student Loan payments. These documents are equally important for self-assessment tax returns so it is important to know where the documents are during a repayment request.
Voluntary payments made are not reclaimable as a refund; the service only applies to student loan deducted from income by employers.Postgraduate loans are written off 30 years after the first April that repayment is due.

Tags: Student loan, Student Loans Company, personal tax, self-assessment tax