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Glossary
Click on the letters below to view detailed definitions of some of the most commonly used terms on this site:
A
- Arrears
- Arrears refer to an amount of loan which was due to be paid as indicated by a repayment schedule, but has not been. The amount is part of the full loan balance, not in addition to it.
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C
- Consent To Share
- Consent to Share (CtS) is written or verbal authorisation which allows us to provide account information, with the exception of your bank details, to a third party you have nominated.
- Customer Reference Number
- Your Customer Reference Number (formerly known as ART ID) is a unique reference number, to be used in communication between Us and You. It can be used to Login to your online Repayment Account and use our self-service telephone options.
see more on
- How to Use Your Online Account
D
- Deductions
- This usually refers to the amount of student loan repayments that are taken via 'PAYE'.
- Deferment
- 'Deferment is related specifically to 'Mortgage Style' or 'Fixed Term' Loans. It is the process of notifying Us that you are not yet above the 'Repayment Threshold' and will not be repaying your loan for the coming year.
I
- Income Contingent Repayments/ Income Based Repayments
- 'Income contingent' or 'Income based' repayment refer to the scheme applicable to customers who started their courses on or after September 1998. Repayments fall due and are deducted in relation to your income.
- Interest Rate
- This is the rate of interest applied to an outstanding balance of Student Loan. This is set by DIUS (Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills) and is linked to the Retail Price Index.
The rate of interest (APR) for the period of September 2008 to August 2009 is 3.8%.
L
- Loan Account Number
- Loan account numbers are references for particular loans in your account. You may need to refer to these when you send us payments to a particular account or talk to our collections department.
M
- Mortgage Style/ Fixed Term Repayments
- 'Mortgage style' or 'fixed term' (the words can be used interchangeably), refer to a scheme of repayment which applies to customers who started their courses before 1998. The title refers to the method of repayment where the sum of the loan is divided into fixed instalments, and rescheduled annually in line with annual interest rates. In this way, the loan is paid off within a 'fixed term' dependant on the number of loans taken out.
O
- Overseas
- Overseas is the term we use to refer to periods when customers are living/working outside of the UK. Repayment methods may differ when you live overseas.
- Overseas Income Assessment Form
- This is key to the process of assessing your scheduled repayments if you are an Income Contingent repayer working overseas. An Overseas Income Assessment form is the document you need to complete when you go abroad for a period of more than three months.
- Overseas In-Year Re-assessment
- In-Year Re-assessment: This is the process of re-assessing your scheduled repayments if you are an Income Contingent repayer working overseas. Repayments are scheduled annually, however you can request to be re-assessed within the year if your circumstances change.
P
- P45
- P45 is the form you receive when you leave an employer. It details how much tax, national insurance and Student Loan deductions you have paid in the tax year so far.
- P46
- P46 is the form you complete if you have lost or do not have a P45. When you start with a new employer you need to either give them a P45 from your previous employer or complete a P46. There is a box to tick to indicate that you have a student loan.
- P60
- Your P60 is the summary of your pay and the tax that's been deducted from it in the tax year.
- Password
- Your password is a combination of letters and numbers between 8 and 16 characters long. This password will either be set by yourself if you have previously used student finance or student loans online service, or will be generated by Us. If you have a system generated password, you will be asked to reset this on your first login to your account.
- PAYE
- PAYE is short for 'Pay As You Earn'. This is the way most of us pay our taxes and National Insurance via deductions from our pay. If you are an 'Income-Contingent' repayer, and work in the UK tax system, this is most likely how you will repay your student loan.
- PGCE
- PGCE is short for Post Graduate Certificate of Education.
- Power of Attorney
- A Power of Attorney (PoA) is an official document where you can grant attorney to a third party to release or update information relating to your account. A PoA must contain the specific period for which they can act as an attorney and the specific tasks that they can perform.
R
- Repayment
- Repayment can mean the status of your loan, an amount of your loan to be repaid, or a payment to your loan in order to reduce the balance. If we say you are in 'repayment', this means that you are due to make payments to reduce your loan balance.
- Repayment of Teachers Loans Scheme (RTL)
- The Repayment of Teacher Loans scheme was a pilot scheme which repaid the student loans of newly qualified teachers of priority subjects whose contracts of employment commenced in the academic years 2002/03, 2003/04 and 2004/05. The scheme is now closed to new applicants.
- Repayment Schedule
- A Repayment Schedule details the amount you will need to pay towards your loan account balance for the coming year. This can apply to 'Income-Contingent' customers if they are outside the UK tax system, or to 'Fixed-Term' customers. Generally these schedules are sent annually.
- Repayment Threshold(s)
- A 'repayment threshold' is the amount you have to earn before you must start making repayments to your loan. This threshold differs dependant on what type of loan you have and in some cases the country you live in.
S
- Secret Answer
- Your 'secret answer' is a combination of letters and numbers between 4 and 16 characters long. This 'secret answer' will either be set by yourself if you have previously used student finance or student loans' online service, or will be generated by Us. If you have a system generated secret answer, you will be asked to reset this on your first login to your account.
- Self-assessment
- Self-assessment’ is the way you calculate your tax and national insurance deductions if you are self-employed. This is also how you would calculate and repay your student loan if self-employed.
V
- Voluntary Repayments
- Voluntary repayments are payments made towards a loan balance over and above any scheduled amounts. These can be in addition to 'Income Contingent' or 'Fixed Term' amounts.
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