Student loan refund service passes 1.6 million requests

More than 1.6 million refund requests have gone through the Student Loans Company's online service since it launched in 2024, the company said on Thursday.

The largest group is people who earned less over a whole tax year than their plan's annual threshold, but still had deductions taken from their pay. In the 2025/26 tax year, £97.6m was refunded to 416,400 customers in that position.

Four reasons a refund can be due

Below the threshold. The current annual limits listed on GOV.UK are £26,900 for Plan 1, £29,385 for Plan 2, £33,795 for Plan 4 and £21,000 for a Postgraduate Loan. If you are repaying a mix of Plan 1, 2 and 4 loans, the lowest applies. For repayments made before this tax year, GOV.UK points to previous thresholds. SLC says it contacts eligible customers at the end of the financial year, once HMRC has supplied earnings figures, and they can then ask for the money through their online account.

Paid too much. Repayments can carry on after a loan is cleared, and GOV.UK warns that an employer may keep deducting for about four weeks. SLC refunds this automatically if it holds up-to-date bank details.

Started too early. Deductions that begin before your statutory repayment date, often because of an employer error, can be claimed back by contacting SLC.

Wrong plan. If an employer put you on the wrong plan, you may be entitled to a refund of the incorrect deductions. To help prevent this, you can download an Active Plan Type letter from your account and give it to your employer.

Below-threshold refunds only cover tax years that have ended, and extra repayments you chose to make cannot be reclaimed. SLC says any refund is added back on to the loan balance, and that it cannot give financial advice, so borrowers should weigh up their own circumstances first. SLC's refund guidance includes a step-by-step video.