Guidance

Overseas earnings thresholds for Plan 1 student loans

You'll only start repaying your student loan when you earn more than the minimum amount. There are different earnings thresholds for foreign countries.

Applies to England, Northern Ireland and Wales

Documents

Details

This guide applies to Plan 1 customers. You’re a Plan 1 customer if you’re:

  • an English or Welsh student (or an EU student who studied in England or Wales) who took out a loan before 1 September 2012
  • a Northern Irish student (or an EU student who studied in Northern Ireland) who took out a loan on or after 1 September 1998

You can also find out the overseas earning thresholds for Plan 2, Plan 4 and Postgraduate Loan repayments. If you’re unsure, you can check which repayment plan you’re on.

If you live abroad or work for a foreign employer, the minimum amount you must earn may be different from the UK.

Earnings thresholds for foreign countries are set each year. They describe the minimum amount you must earn in a country before you’ll start to repay.

The thresholds take account of differences in living costs from the UK. The exchange rates used to calculate the thresholds are also provided.

For each country, there is a fixed monthly repayment amount. This is the amount you could pay each month if you do not let Student Loans Company know about your income.

Overseas earnings thresholds for student loan repayment are based on:

  • the annual UK earnings threshold during the period

  • World Bank data, which measures the differences in general price levels between countries

  • the exchange rates, calculated as an average rate for the previous UK calendar year.

Published 6 April 2018
Last updated 6 April 2023 + show all updates
  1. Overseas thresholds for the 2023-24 tax year have been added.

  2. Overseas earning thresholds HTMLs have been updated for the 2022-23 tax year

  3. Added more information to help customers identify which plan type they're on.

  4. Updated the HTML attachments (English and Welsh) in line with the new overseas thresholds coming in for 2021/22 tax year

  5. Updated threshold amounts for 2020-21

  6. We have added a line to the HTML clarifying what the fixed monthly repayment amount means.

  7. Added Welsh language translation.

  8. First published.