So you've been given your tuition fee or maintenance loan, but how do you pay back the money you owe?

What you pay depends on how much you earn not how much you owe

If you are unemployed or a low earner once you've graduated don't worry.

You don't start paying your tuition fee loan back until the April after you leave University and even then you only start paying when you're earning over £21,000 a year. Once this is the case, your employer collects the student loan repayments. This amount is directly taken out of your pay alongside your tax, pension and National Insurance contributions. So although it's important to know how much you will earn afterwards, you don't have to remember to set up any repayments.

If you become self-employed or pay tax through self-assessment for any other reason you will need to check the Student Loan Repayment website as different terms apply.

Many people never pay off their loan

In his article Student Loans Mythbusting Martin Lewis, head of the Independent Taskforce on Student Finance Information, explains that it's likely that many people will never pay back the full tuition fee loan. This is because the repayments are proportional to your income and only those at the higher end of the income scale will be paying off enough to make a significant dent in the debt. After 30 years the loan is written off so only the first 30 years of your earnings count towards paying off the total.

At the top of the scale, the very highest earners (with a graduate salary around £41,000) will pay their loan off fastest and therefore avoid paying as much interest.

Test this for yourself using the Student Loan Repayment Calculator: