Question to the Department for Education:

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what measures they have in place to ensure that the Student Loans Company does not continue taking payments after graduates have paid off the balance of their debt.

There is a risk that borrowers coming towards the end of their loans may repay to much, as a result of a time lag between HMRC making deductions and their being reported to the Student Loans Company (SLC). In such cases, borrowers are advised to monitor their own repayments so they know when they are likely to come to the end of repaying their loan, as they could over repay otherwise. They are also encouraged to inform SLC that they wish not to have any remaining repayments through the PAYE system but repay their loan through a direct debit.

Any amounts that are overpaid are refunded with interest by the SLC when borrowers’ accounts are reconciled at the end of the financial year.