Student Loans in Northern Ireland
On average, a UK graduate leaves university with £45,000 of debt. But that isn't necessarily how much they repay. How much university costs in total is completely delinked from what you end up paying. You can pay back anywhere between £0 and £140,000.
If you live in the UK and wish to study at university, you'll most likely have taken out, or need to take out a student loan. How your student loan works is all about where you are from rather than where you go to study.
In this article, we'll explore the practical financial impact a student loan could have on you as a Northern Irish student.
If you live in Northern Ireland and take out a student loan, you will be on a different student finance system to the rest of the UK, irrespective of where you go to study.
Not a Northern Irish student? Check out the other articles here:
As a Northern Irish student you will have applied to Student Finance Northern Ireland, who work with the Student Loans Company (SLC) to deal with your application and loan allocation. Then, when you graduate and are liable to start repaying, SLC deals with your loan repayments.
There are two main types of student loans in the UK; Mortgage Style (MS) and Income Contingent Repayment (ICR). This article only covers the current ICR loan type (which is from 1998 onward).
For Northern Irish students you can be on any the following repayment plans:
- Plan 1
Think of a repayment plan as a pot of money that you owe, with some conditions. You need to pay back:
- Tuition fee loans
- Maintenance loans
- Accrued interest
When you start repaying your loan, how much you repay, for how long you repay and how much interest is applied each month to your loan depends on the repayment plan you are on.
The latest for the above is:
| Plan type | Repayment threshold | Interest rate | Max years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £24,990 | 6.25% | 25 |
Go to this article to read on about repaying your loan early, interest rates and having multiple loans.