What is a student loan

CPAG

What is a student loan

Student loans are low-interest loans for students to cover living costs. See here for when and how they are repaid. Student loans are partly means-tested.

Plan 4 loans

There are five student loan plans in the UK. Plan 4 loans relate only to students funded by the Student Awards Agency for Scotland (SAAS). The information in this section relates to plan 4 loans. For information about other plans, see CPAG’s Debt Advice Handbook.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) pays loans to students from across the UK and collects their loan repayments.

SAAS assesses student finance applications and pays bursaries for students from Scotland. SAAS does not pay student loans, although it asses the loan amount an applicant is eligible for and sends this information to the SLC.

Students must apply each year they study for a student loan.

Interest is applied to student loans from the start of the loan until it is fully repaid. Interest is currently charged at 6.25 per cent a year.

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Debt Advice Handbook Scotland 1st ed - with new material

Written in partnership with Citizens Advice Scotland, CPAG is delighted to announce the first edition of the Debt Advice Handbook Scotland. Based on CPAG’s best-selling Debt Advice Handbook, it details the stages of the debt advice process in Scotland and the key skills needed to give good advice. No money adviser should be without this essential guide.

The Handbook provides the most comprehensive information needed by advisers on the tools and strategies to help clients with their financial difficulties. It details the key stages of money advice, including on interviewing clients, establishing liability, prioritising debts, preparing a financial statement, negotiating with creditors and dealing with bailiffs. Emphasis is placed on taking due care of vulnerable clients and making sure that any payment arrangements agreed are appropriate. There is a focus on sustainable credit arrangements that do not affect a client’s abilities to pay essential living expenses and priority debts.

It is the go-to tool for specialist debt adviser as a first step in accessing primary legislation and regulations, and is also a reliable guide and training aid for the new debt adviser. Advisers who undertake debt advice alongside other sorts of advice work or other professional disciplines – such as social workers and housing officers – will find this handbook an indispensable resource.

Fully indexed and cross referenced to law, official guidance and to court and tribunal decisions, tactical guidance and examples are included throughou

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CPAG

This content was last updated:2024-10-22

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