Guidance

Overseas earnings thresholds for Plan 4 student loans

You'll only start repaying your student loan when you earn more than the minimum amount. There are different earnings thresholds for foreign countries.

From:
Student Loans Company
Published
6 April 2021
Last updated
6 April 20222023 — See all updates

Applies to Scotland

Documents

Overseas earnings thresholds for Plan 4 student loans, 2022-232023-24

HTML

Details

This guide applies to Plan 4 customers. You’re a Plan 4 customer if you’re:

  • a Scottish student who started an undergraduate or postgraduate course anywhere in the UK on or after 1 September 1998
  • an EU student who started an undergraduate course in Scotland on or after 1 September 1998

You can also find out the overseas earning thresholds for Plan 1, Plan 2 and Postgraduate Loan repayments. If you’re unsure, you can check which repayment plan you’re on.

If you live abroad or work for a foreign employer, the minimum amount you must earn may be different from the UK.

Earnings thresholds for foreign countries are set each year. They describe the minimum amount you must earn in a country before you’ll start to repay.

The thresholds take account of differences in living costs from the UK. The exchange rates used to calculate the thresholds are also provided.

For each country, there is a fixed monthly repayment amount. This is the amount you could pay each month if you do not let Student Loans Company know about your income.

Overseas earnings thresholds for student loan repayment are based on:

  • the annual UK earnings threshold during the period

  • World Bank data, which measures the differences in general price levels between countries

  • the exchange rates, calculated as an average rate for the previous UK calendar year.

Published 6 April 2021
Last updated 6 April 20222023 + show all updates

  1. Thresholds have been updated for the 2023-24 tax year

  2. Overseas earnings thresholds HTMLs have been updated for the 2022-23 tax year.

  3. Updated to highlight oversears thresholds for students to self identify

  4. Corrected threshold information for the Channel Islands

  5. Added translation