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Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Moving abroad does not cancel a Scottish student loan funded by the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS). It remains a Plan 4 loan, and repayments continue to depend on your income. The Student Loans Company (SLC) applies the overseas threshold for the country where you live, converts your earnings and payment into pounds sterling, and expects you to cover currency-conversion and bank-transfer fees. If SLC does not receive the income information it needs, the applicable overseas schedule sets a fixed monthly repayment instead.
First, confirm that your loan is Plan 4
The rules in this article apply to a loan funded by the Student Awards Agency Scotland. Official guidance identifies SAAS-funded borrowers as Plan 4 customers. If your funding came from another UK body, check your repayment plan before using any threshold or rate in this article: Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 5 and postgraduate loans have different rules.
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Your plan is normally shown in your Student Loans Company account and in correspondence about your loan. Checking it before you leave matters because an overseas threshold published for Plan 4 cannot be assumed to apply to another plan.
How Plan 4 repayments work when you live overseas
Plan 4 uses an income-contingent calculation. You repay 9% of income above the threshold that applies to you. The key difference after moving abroad is that the threshold is not automatically the UK threshold. SLC assigns a threshold based on your destination country and the relevant overseas schedule.
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The destination sets the threshold
Official guidance says that “Overseas thresholds are based on living costs in each individual country.” SLC uses the Price Level Index to reflect differences in general price levels, including food, housing and transport. As a result, two borrowers with the same sterling-equivalent income can have different repayment obligations if they live in different countries.
The threshold also changes by schedule year. The figures in the current publication cover April 2026 through March 2027. When a new schedule is issued, use the figures for that period rather than carrying forward an old threshold.
The 9% calculation
Once SLC has your overseas income and the applicable threshold, the basic calculation is:
monthly repayment = 9% × (annual income above the applicable threshold) ÷ 12
This formula is applied to the income figure SLC determines for your circumstances. It is not a flat percentage of all your earnings: the 9% applies only to the amount over the threshold.
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Income is converted to pounds
SLC asks for details of your income, converts reported earnings into pounds sterling and communicates the monthly repayment in sterling. Your employer may pay you in euros, Australian dollars, US dollars or another currency, but the amount SLC sets is a pound amount. You are responsible for any exchange-rate spread, currency-conversion charge or bank-transfer fee needed to send that amount.
Exchange rates and overseas thresholds are schedule-specific. Do not use an internet currency converter to replace the rate or method in the current SLC schedule.
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UK threshold versus an overseas threshold
For the 2026–27 period, the UK Plan 4 annual threshold is £33,795. Repayments stop when income is below the applicable threshold and restart when earnings rise above it. That £33,795 figure is the UK benchmark only; it is not a universal threshold for everyone living abroad.
| Where you live | Which threshold applies | What happens below the threshold |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | £33,795 a year for 2026–27 | No Plan 4 repayment while income remains below the threshold; repayments restart above it. |
| Outside the UK | The destination’s Plan 4 overseas threshold for the relevant schedule year | No percentage repayment while income remains below that destination threshold, provided SLC has the information it needs. |
The overseas row is deliberately not a single number. The threshold depends on the country, and the published table must be checked for the place where you actually live.
What the 2026–27 overseas schedule shows
The 2026–27 schedule runs from April 2026 to March 2027. It gives each destination’s earnings threshold and a fixed monthly amount that can apply when SLC has not received the required information.
| Destination | 2026–27 annual earnings threshold | Fixed monthly amount if required information is missing |
|---|---|---|
| Australia | £33,795 | £201 |
| Germany | £27,045 | £160.80 |
These are examples from the 2026–27 table, not worldwide defaults. Australia happens to have the same stated threshold as the 2026–27 UK figure, while Germany’s is lower. That does not mean every country uses either number.
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What if SLC does not have your income information?
SLC’s overseas process depends on receiving the information it requests. The official schedule includes a fixed monthly repayment for cases where the required information has not been supplied. This amount is not the result of applying 9% to your actual earnings; it is the schedule’s fallback charge for the relevant destination and year.
For example, the 2026–27 table lists a £201 monthly amount for Australia and £160.80 for Germany when the required information is missing. The amount is quoted in pounds, so your bank may debit more or less in local currency after conversion and fees.
Supplying the requested information is therefore important even if you believe your income is below the threshold. Without it, the fixed amount may be used instead of an income-based calculation.
What to do before and after moving
- Confirm your plan. Verify that the loan was funded by SAAS and is recorded as Plan 4. If you have more than one loan, check whether every balance follows the same plan.
- Identify your destination and move date. The country where you live determines the overseas threshold. Note whether your move falls in the April 2026–March 2027 schedule or a later period.
- Find the current overseas Plan 4 schedule. Look up your destination’s earnings threshold, currency, published exchange rate and any fixed monthly amount. Do not substitute the UK threshold unless you are living in the UK.
- Follow SLC’s current account instructions. SLC says it will ask for income details and work out how much you should repay each month. Use the instructions in your account for the information and account details it requests.
- Prepare evidence of income. Keep the pay records, tax documents or other information you provide so that your figures can be explained if SLC queries them. The available guidance confirms that SLC requests income information, but it does not establish one universal deadline or a single document list for every country.
- Set up a reliable payment method. Make sure you can send a sterling payment from your overseas bank, or arrange the method SLC specifies. Allow time for international transfers to clear.
- Budget for charges. Add the bank’s transfer fee and any currency-conversion cost to the pound repayment SLC communicates. A payment that leaves your account short because of fees may not satisfy the amount due.
- Review the schedule when it changes. Overseas thresholds and fixed amounts are published for a defined period. Check the next schedule rather than assuming the 2026–27 figures continue indefinitely.
How to estimate your own payment
Income below the destination threshold
If your income, measured under SLC’s overseas process, is below your country’s threshold, the percentage-based repayment is zero while that position continues and SLC has the information it needs. This does not erase the loan balance; it means no income-contingent payment is calculated for that period.
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Income above the destination threshold
Suppose SLC determines that your annual income is £40,000 equivalent and your destination threshold is £27,045. The amount above the threshold is £12,955. Nine per cent of that excess is £1,165.95 for the year, or about £97.16 per month before any payment-processing or currency costs. This illustration uses the published Germany threshold and assumes SLC accepts £40,000 as the relevant annual income; your actual calculation may differ if SLC uses a different income period or conversion.
Missing information
If the required information is not supplied, do not apply the 9% formula to an assumed salary. The schedule’s fixed monthly amount may apply instead. For the examples above, that would be £160.80 a month in Germany or £201 a month in Australia for 2026–27, before your bank’s charges.
Currency, exchange rates and transfer costs
The amount SLC communicates is in pounds sterling. The overseas schedule also publishes a currency and exchange rate for its destination entries. Your practical cost can therefore have three parts:
- the sterling repayment calculated by SLC;
- the exchange-rate difference between the published rate and the rate your bank or payment provider uses; and
- the fee for converting or transferring the money.
These costs are yours to pay. They do not reduce the sterling amount SLC says you owe. Check the final debit in your local-currency account, particularly when your bank charges a separate international-transfer fee.
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Using the UK threshold overseas
The £33,795 UK figure is useful for a UK borrower in 2026–27, but it cannot stand in for every overseas country. Start with the destination entry in the overseas table.
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Assuming moving abroad pauses the loan
A change of address does not make a SAAS-funded Plan 4 loan disappear. You still need to use the overseas process and provide the information SLC requests.
Ignoring the fixed amount
The fixed monthly figure is a real fallback in the published schedule. Failing to send information can therefore produce a payment that does not reflect your actual earnings.
Forgetting fees
Because SLC communicates in pounds, the amount leaving your local-currency account can be higher than a simple exchange-rate calculation suggests. Include conversion and transfer fees in your budget.
Carrying old figures into a new year
The Australia and Germany figures above belong to April 2026–March 2027. A later schedule may change thresholds, exchange rates or fixed amounts. Recheck before the new period starts.
If your circumstances change
Tell SLC through the current account process when your country, income or contact details change. A new destination can mean a different threshold, while a change in earnings can move you from below the threshold to an income-based repayment. If you return to the UK, the UK Plan 4 threshold applies for the relevant period rather than the overseas threshold.
The general rule remains that repayments stop below the applicable threshold and restart when income rises above it. Keep records of the dates and information you submit so that your account reflects the correct country and period.
What the official guidance does—and does not—specify
The official material establishes the Plan 4 rate, country-specific thresholds, the 2026–27 schedule, the fixed-amount fallback and the treatment of currency and transfer costs. It does not provide one universal overseas reporting deadline, one document checklist for every borrower or one online form that applies to every country. Use the current instructions in your SLC account for those case-specific details rather than relying on a generic deadline.
For the core calculation, the Student Loans Company’s 2026–27 terms guide states: “SLC (Student Loans Company) will ask for details of your income and will work out how much you should repay each month.” That is the practical reason to keep your overseas information current.
Quick Recap
Practical decision checklist
- Is the loan SAAS-funded and shown as Plan 4?
- Which country will be your actual residence during the repayment period?
- Which overseas schedule year covers that period?
- What are that country’s threshold, currency and published exchange rate?
- What fixed monthly amount applies if SLC does not receive the requested information?
- How will your bank handle sterling conversion and international-transfer fees?
- Have you submitted the income information requested in your SLC account?
- When will you check the next schedule for updated figures?
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