Repaying from outside the UK

If you leave the UK, you still need to continue repaying your loan directly to SLC.

You still need to repay your student loan if you move abroad. Your repayments no longer come out through the UK tax system, so you pay the Student Loans Company (SLC) directly.

If you’re leaving the UK for more than three months, you must tell SLC before you go. If you do not, you could be charged a fixed monthly amount, a higher rate of interest and penalties.

Tell SLC before you leave

Update your employment details with SLC if you’re leaving the UK for more than three months. This includes going travelling as well as moving abroad. You can do this through your online repayment account.

SLC will ask you to fill in an ‘Overseas Income Assessment Form’. This asks for details of your income and whether you’re working. SLC then tells you whether you need to make repayments and how much to pay each month.

If you’re leaving the UK for less than three months, you do not need to tell SLC. You’re still treated as a UK taxpayer.

Keep your details up to date each year

You need to update your employment details every year while you live abroad. SLC sends you a form each year to reassess your income. Tell SLC if your income changes during the year, so it can work out your repayments again.

How much you repay from abroad

The rules for repaying are the same as in the UK. The only difference is the repayment threshold, which is set for each country.

Thresholds are based on living costs in each country. They’re set each year on 6 April using price data published by the World Bank. Your threshold abroad might be higher or lower than in the UK.

For example, the Plan 2 threshold in Spain for the 2026 to 2027 tax year is £23,510. The UK threshold for Plan 2 is £29,385.

GOV.UK publishes the overseas thresholds for each plan:

Read how much you repay in the UK to compare.

How to make repayments from abroad

Once SLC tells you how much to repay, you can pay:

  • through your online repayment account, by international debit card or Direct Debit
  • by international bank transfer, using your customer reference number as the reference

You’re responsible for any costs of changing your money into pounds. You also have to pay any fees your bank charges to send money to SLC.

Paying extra on top of your monthly repayment does not change the amount you must pay each month. Read about overpaying your student loan.

If you do not keep SLC up to date

If you do not give SLC details of your income, you’ll have to pay a fixed monthly amount. This amount is set for each country. This may be more than you would pay based on your actual income.

Any amount you do not pay builds up as ‘arrears’. You’ll have to repay arrears even if your income is below the threshold. You repay them separately from your monthly repayments.

You may also be charged the highest rate of interest. For Plan 2, this is normally the Retail Prices Index (RPI) plus 3%, whatever your income.

SLC can also:

  • charge penalties on your loan
  • ask you to repay the whole loan, plus interest and penalties, in one go
  • take legal action to get the money back

SLC can enforce the debt through the courts whether you live in the UK or abroad.

When you return to the UK

Update your employment details with SLC when you come back to the UK after more than three months away.

If you do not update your details, you’ll keep repaying at the rate for the country you lived in. This could mean you pay more than you need to and are charged a higher rate of interest. You could also end up repaying both directly to SLC and through your pay.

Sources