Latest News

Interest rate reduction for Income Contingent Loans

The interest rate payable on income based student loans has been reduced following the latest change to the Bank of England rate to 2% on Thursday 4^th December. The new rate for income based student loans is 3% from the 5th December until further notice. Interest is applied to loans from the date they are paid to you until they are repaid in full.

Why has it changed?

Student loans are not like commercial loans. They are subsidised by Government and attract a low cost interest rate. This interest rate is based on the annual March Retail Price Index (RPI) or the highest base rate of a number of major banks plus 1%; whichever is lower. 

To date, the RPI has always been the lower of the two. The reduced bank base rate plus 1% is now lower than the March 2008 RPI so we have presently adjusted the student loan rate to 3%.

Who this will affect:

• Anyone who has a student loan for a course starting after September 1998 and has not paid the balance in full.
• Applicants for Maintenance Loans in the current and next academic year.
• Applicants for Tuition Fee Loans in the current and next academic year.

You will not be affected by the change in rate if you took your loan out for a course starting before September 1998.  Your loan is repaid through a fixed term (Mortgage Style) repayment scheme. You will be charged interest, based on the RPI.  The interest rate is currently 3.8% for the period 1^st September 2008 to 31^st August 2009 and is reviewed annually. 

New bank details for the Student Loans Company - if you are paying back a loan

SLC have changed their bank account details. You can no longer use a Pay In book to make payments. If you make payments using bank giro credit slips at your bank, you should start making payments using the following new bank details now.

New SLC bank account details:

Sort code: 20-33-70

Account no: 33534480

Address:Barclays Bank plc

120 Bothwell Street

Glasgow

G2 7JT

All future repayments should be made to the sort code and account number above, quoting your Customer Reference Number (formerly known as an ART ID).

Alternatively, you can make repayments in any of the following ways:

• Direct Debit
• Standing Order
• Credit/debit card payment. Please call Student Loans Company on the number provided.
• Cheques/Postal Orders. Your cheque/postal order should be payable to Student Loans Company. Please write your Customer Reference Number on the reverse side of your cheque/postal order.
• Foreign cheque
• Foreign transfer. Foreign transfers should quote IBAN No: GB45BARC20337033534480 and Swift Code: BARCGB22.

Important notice if your statement has been delayed

Last year, student loan account holders were advised that some delays in processing employers’ annual returns had held up some student loan repayment information and that details of these student loan deductions had yet to be passed to the Student Loans Company.

While most of the affected employers’ returns have now been processed, we are aware that some account holders are still waiting for a statement from a previous financial year, or have received one which incorrectly shows deductions as ‘nil’.

If this situation affects you, there is no need to worry. Any deductions that have been made from your salary will be credited to your student loan account, and your monthly wage slips and P60s do provide an accurate record of the repayments you have already made. You will not pay any additional loan interest as a result of any delays in your repayments being credited to your account because the Student Loans Company will adjust your interest charge retrospectively to reflect when your repayments were actually deducted from your earnings.

The Student Loans Company will send you an updated statement when any outstanding repayment information is received. If you have not received an update or are still awaiting any final statements by April 2008, please contact us.