UK student loans abroad: thresholds, fixed payments and avoiding arrears

Your UK student loan follows you abroad: tell the Student Loans Company before you go, send proof of income every year, and you'll repay much as you would at home.

Back in the UK, student loan repayments come out of your payslip and you barely notice. Abroad, there's no PAYE to do the work, so the Student Loans Company (SLC) asks you to report your income and pay it directly. Ignore it and the SLC charges you a fixed monthly amount whatever you earn, with arrears building up every month you don't pay. It's one of the most common money surprises for younger Brits abroad, and one of the easiest to avoid.

The short version

• If you're leaving the UK for more than three months, you must tell the SLC, by updating your employment details online [1].
• You'll be asked to complete an Overseas Income Assessment Form and send evidence of how you support yourself [2].
• Each country has its own repayment threshold, set by its cost of living. For Plan 2 in 2026/27 it ranges from £11,755 a year in some countries to £35,260 in the most expensive [3].
• If you don't send your income details, you're charged a fixed monthly repayment instead. In 2026/27 this can be as much as £618.80 a month, depending on your plan and country [4].
• Unpaid repayments become arrears. They don't vanish when you come home, and payments through UK payroll don't clear them [4].

Telling the Student Loans Company you're leaving

GOV.UK says you must tell the SLC if you're leaving the UK for more than three months, for example to travel or move abroad, by updating your employment details online [1]. The Northern Ireland guidance says to update the SLC before you leave [2]. Short trips of under three months don't need any notice, and you carry on being treated as a UK taxpayer [2].

The Overseas Income Assessment Form

After you tell the SLC you're moving, it will ask you to fill in an Overseas Income Assessment Form. This covers your income and employment status, and you need to give the currency of any income, whether earned or unearned [2]. You'll also need to send evidence showing how you support yourself, such as payslips, a contract or bank statements [1][2].

The SLC uses this to work out what you owe each month, and then writes to you to arrange direct repayments [2]. Expect to pay by direct debit from a UK bank account or by another direct method the SLC offers. It's one more reason to keep a UK bank account.

Each year the SLC sends a reassessment form. If your income changes in between, for example you lose your job or take a pay rise, contact the SLC so your repayments can be reassessed [2].

Step by step

1. Check which plan you're on (Plan 1, 2, 4 or 5, or a Postgraduate Loan). It's in your online SLC account.
2. Update your employment details online before you leave [1].
3. Complete the Overseas Income Assessment Form when it arrives, and sign and date it [2].
4. Send your income evidence.
5. Set up the direct repayment the SLC asks for.
6. Diary the annual reassessment, and tell the SLC promptly if your income changes.

Overseas thresholds by country

At home, you repay 9% of income above your plan's threshold (6% for a Postgraduate Loan) [5]. Abroad, the same principle applies, but the threshold is adjusted to the country you live in. The bands reflect living costs in each country, so cheaper countries have lower thresholds. All figures are in pounds, and the SLC converts your local income at its own exchange rate [3].

Here are the UK thresholds for comparison:

Source: GOV.UK [5].

And here are the Plan 2 overseas figures for some popular destinations, from April 2026 to March 2027 [3]:

What the columns mean:

• Lower earnings threshold: your repayments are worked out on income above this figure [3].
• Upper earnings threshold: used with the lower threshold to set the interest on your balance, which for Plan 2 runs from RPI up to RPI plus 3% [3].
• Fixed monthly repayment: what you're charged if you don't give the SLC the earnings information it needs [3].

Plan 1, Plan 4 and Postgraduate Loans have their own country tables on GOV.UK [6], and the figures change every April. Countries can move between bands from year to year. In 2026/27, for example, Germany sits on the same Plan 2 threshold as Spain and France, below Ireland's. Check your own plan and country on GOV.UK each spring rather than relying on last year's numbers.

Fixed payments if you don't send evidence

This is where people come unstuck. If you've lived outside the UK for three months or more since your loan entered repayment and you haven't updated your employment details, the SLC expects you to pay a fixed monthly amount, which can be as much as £618.80 [4]. It's based on where you live, not what you earn, so it can be far more than you'd pay on your real income.

Fixed payments are deliberately steep. They're there to get you to send in the form.

How arrears build up

GOV.UK sets out two ways arrears build up on an overseas account [4]:

• you haven't updated your employment details, so the fixed monthly repayment applies and every unpaid month adds to the arrears
• you've updated your details but haven't made the repayments in your schedule

Arrears aren't an extra charge as such; they're the overdue part of your balance [4]. But they don't go away. If you come back to the UK and start repaying through tax and National Insurance, those payroll deductions don't count towards your arrears. You still need to contact the SLC and agree a plan to clear them [4].

If you're behind, call the SLC's arrears line on +44 141 243 3970 and agree an arrangement [4]. The earlier you call, the smaller the bill. If your income is below your country's threshold, sending evidence is what gets your repayments set at the right level.

Coming back to the UK

If you've been away for more than three months, you must update your employment details when you return [1]. If you don't, the SLC keeps charging you at the rate for the country you lived in, which can mean paying more than you need to or a higher rate of interest [1]. You also risk paying twice, through PAYE and by direct debit, until it's sorted [2].

Our guide to moving back to the UK covers the rest of the paperwork for coming home, and UK income while you live abroad explains how other UK income is treated while you're away.

What differs from life back home

At home, student loan repayments are automatic and invisible. Abroad, they're your job. You report your income, you pay it directly, and you keep the SLC up to date. Do that and repayments are much like they'd be in the UK, adjusted for where you live. Skip it, and a debt you thought was "just a graduate tax" starts behaving like a bill that's been left in the drawer. Sort it before you go, put the reassessment in your diary, and get on with enjoying the sunshine.

Sources

1. GOV.UK, "Repaying your student loan: if you move abroad": https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/if-you-move-abroad
2. nidirect, "Repaying student loans when you move overseas": https://nidirect.gov.uk/articles/repaying-student-loans-when-you-move-overseas
3. GOV.UK, "Overseas earnings thresholds for Plan 2 student loans, 2026-27": https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-earnings-thresholds-for-plan-2-student-loans/overseas-earnings-thresholds-for-plan-2-student-loans-2026-27
4. GOV.UK, "How arrears can accrue on your student loan account when you're overseas" (updated 6 April 2026): https://www.gov.uk/guidance/how-arrears-can-accrue-on-your-student-loan-account-when-youre-overseas
5. GOV.UK, "Repaying your student loan: what you pay": https://www.gov.uk/repaying-your-student-loan/what-you-pay
6. GOV.UK, "Overseas earnings thresholds for Plan 4 student loans": https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/overseas-earnings-thresholds-for-plan-4-student-loans

Keep reading

• Keeping a UK bank account when you live abroad
• Sending money between the UK and abroad
• Your UK credit file while you're away
• Moving back to the UK: NHS, benefits, school places and home fees