Students: Repaying your loan through Self Assessment

The amount you repay each week or month will be based on your income after you've finished or left your course.

If you work for yourself
If you work for yourself you'll come under the Self Assessment tax system. Each year you'll have to complete a tax return to tell us about your profits and expenses. From this we'll know how much tax and National Insurance you have to pay. We use the same information to work out your student loan repayments for the year.

You won't have to make any repayments if, in the tax year, your income is less than £15,000. See Repayments: how, when and how much will I pay

Rather than paying amounts over to us every month - as you would probably do if you worked for someone else - we'll ask you to make payments at the same time as you pay your tax (usually 31 January after the end of the tax year).

If you're employed but fill in a Self Assessment return
You might also receive a tax return if you're employed (working for someone else), for example if:

• you're earning enough to pay tax at the higher rate
  
• you have some income from self-employment
  
• you have a large income from savings and investments.

If you're employed you'll continue to make repayments through your employer - based on how much you earn. However, if your income from other sources is significant, for example your savings income is over £2,000 for the year, you may have to make some additional loan repayments.