Are you accidentally overpaying your student loan?

Many people in the UK repay their student loans through their payslip each month, but many don’t realise they’re paying too early, paying on the wrong plan, or paying when they shouldn’t be. Around a million people accidentally overpay each year, and many are owed refunds worth hundreds of pounds. 

Much of this is caused because people simply don’t check how much they owe or whether their employer has the right information. In a survey of 2,004 people carried out for thinkmoney, 662 had student loans. Among them, 508 didn’t know how much they owed, and only 154 knew their balance; that’s roughly 3 in 4 people not knowing their total debt.  

Consumer expert Vix Leyton sums up the problem; many people treat student loans like a “tick‑box exercise” and aren’t given proper guidance. She adds: “What makes it worse is how easy it is to disengage. Letters can go to a parent’s old address for years. Repayments can appear and disappear from payslips in ways that feel confusing and inconsistent. People are effectively allowed to drift away from understanding their own debt, and that is a bad start to adult financial life."

Why overpayments happen 

Here are the most common reasons people overpay without realising: 

You’re on the wrong repayment plan 

Your employer might have the wrong plan down, either because they made an admin error or because you gave them the long info. This means your repayments could be too high for your loan type. 

You can check your correct plan by signing into your Student Loans Company (SLC) online account and downloading your “active plan type letter”, then checking it against what your employer has on file. If they’ve got the wrong one, show them the letter so they can update things. You can get a refund if you overpaid because of this. 

You started repaying too early 

The earliest you should repay is the April after you finish your course (or four years after the course starts if you study part‑time). If repayments came out before that, you may have paid too soon and could be due a refund. There’s no time limit to claiming this back, so even if you only realised it recently after several years, you might be able to claim.  

Your pay dipped below the threshold, but repayments still came out 

Repayments should only be taken when you earn above your plan’s income threshold. If your income changes (like starting a new job part‑way through the year), you might dip below the yearly threshold. If your annual income ends up below the threshold, you can ask for a refund at the end of the tax year.  

Your details aren’t up to date 

If the SLC doesn’t have your current address or contact information, you may miss letters telling you that you’ve overpaid or need to update details so you can get a refund.  

The different student loan plans  

There are four types of student loan repayment plans in the UK: 

• Plan 1: For students who started an undergraduate course before September 2012.

• Plan 2: For students who started after September 2012.

• Plan 4: For Scottish students with undergraduate or postgraduate loans. 

• Postgraduate Loan (PGL): For Master’s or Doctoral loans. 

There's also Plan 5, which applies to students who started their undergraduate/ PGCE course after August 2023. But, these students are likely still studying and probably not making repayments yet.

Current income thresholds and repayment rates 

Repayments only happen when you earn above your plan’s yearly threshold. Here are the 2025–26 tax year thresholds (the year we’re currently in): 

• Plan 1: £26,065 (repay 9% over this) 

• Plan 2: £28,470 (repay 9% over this) 

• Plan 4: £32,745 (repay 9% over this) 

• Postgraduate Loan: £21,000 (repay 6% over this)  

How to get a refund 

You can claim back overpayments directly from the Student Loans Company.  You can request a refund if: 

• you paid before you were supposed to 

• you were on the wrong plan 

• your income for the tax year was below the threshold 

The SLC says you can ask for a refund at the end of the tax year if you paid while earning below the yearly threshold.  

How to claim a student loan refund online  

You can claim a student loan refund online by logging in to your student loans company account and tapping the “request a refund” button which will be under your 2025-26 summary.  

You can only use this service if:  

• The SLC contacted you to let you know you’re eligible for a refund  

• You overpaid during a previous tax year as your annual income was below the threshold  

You can’t use the service if you want a refund for this tax year or if you’ve finished repaying your loan but they kept charging you.  

How to claim a student loan refund if you can’t do it online  

If you’ve finished paying your loan, and the SLC has kept charging you, they’ll typically process a refund automatically or contact you to arrange paying you back. They advise that you switch to the Direct Debit option via the SLC website if you’re within 23 months of paying off your loan; this will prevent accidental overpayments.  

If you need to contact them for a refund due to a different reason, and you can’t do so via the online form, you have a couple of options:  

• Sign in to your account and use the webchat to chat with an advisor (they work Monday to Friday, 8am to 7pm)  

• Ring the SLC (England, Scotland and Northern Ireland on 0300 100 0611, Wales on 0300 100 0370, outside the UK on +44 141 243 3660)  

• Contact them via snail mail - Student Loans Company, 10 Clyde Place, Glasgow, G5 8DF 

You can also get in touch via social media on X (@SLC_Repayment) or Facebook (@SLC_Repayment).  

Tips to avoid future overpayments 

• Keep your address and contact details up to date in your SLC account. 

• Know your loan plan so you can double‑check your payslips. 

• Watch your yearly income, especially if you change jobs or hours. 

• Check your balance online so you don’t keep paying once it’s cleared (though the SLC should process an automatic refund in this instance).  

Quick takeaways 

• Lots of people overpay student loans by accident and it’s often because they don’t understand how the system works. 

• If you’re on a full-time course, you only repay from the April after you finish your course and only when you earn above your plan’s threshold. 

• You can check your plan and repayment status easily online, so make sure you have access to your online account.  

• If you’ve overpaid, refunds are available online, and it can be as easy as filling out a form. 

• Keeping your details up to date is the easiest way to avoid missing important messages about refunds you might be due and other updates.