Money for students and young adults
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In short: From applying for student finance to understanding your first payslip, the years around study and early work bring a run of money firsts.
From applying for student finance to understanding your first payslip, the years around study and early work bring a run of money firsts. Get the basics right — how student loans really work, what your payslip means, and why to stay in your workplace pension — and you avoid the most common, costly mistakes.
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- Kaiser Khan, Editorial Director
Student finance and loans
Apply early for student finance through Student Finance England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. The maintenance loan is means-tested on household income; the tuition fee loan is not. Deadlines are usually May for courses starting that autumn.
A student loan behaves more like a graduate contribution than a debt: repayments depend on what you earn, not what you borrowed, so for most people there is no benefit to overpaying.
Plan 2 (most 2012–2023 starters), Plan 5 (post-2023 starters) and Plan 1 each have different thresholds and write-off dates. Check your plan on your student loan account before assuming headlines apply to you. Use our student loan calculator to model monthly repayments.
Still choosing a course? Our partner site CourseToJob publishes official graduate earnings by subject and university*, from the Department for Education's Longitudinal Education Outcomes data, which helps you judge what your repayments might look like.
Living costs, banking and part-time work
Student bank accounts often include an interest-free overdraft — useful as a buffer, not as income. Compare the post-graduation overdraft terms before you pick a bank for a freebie.
Part-time work under the personal allowance (£12,570 in 2026/27) is usually tax-free if it is your only income. If you work during term and summer, watch your tax code — HMRC sometimes applies an emergency code until you update your details.
Bursaries, scholarships and hardship funds from your university sit alongside maintenance loans. Apply through student services and ask what else is available.
Disabled Students' Allowance funds equipment and support for study-related disability costs — it is not a loan and does not depend on household income.
Starting work
Your first payslip shows Income Tax, National Insurance and a pension contribution. Check your tax code is right — a wrong code is a common reason for paying too much tax.
Stay in your workplace pension under auto-enrolment: your employer pays in too, so it is rarely worth opting out even on a low salary. Start a small savings habit from your first payday.
Graduate schemes and first jobs often bundle relocation, season-ticket loans or share options — read the tax treatment before you accept. Salary sacrifice for pensions or cycle-to-work can cut your tax bill legitimately.
If you are weighing up where your degree could lead, CourseToJob lists graduate jobs by degree subject* alongside the official salary data.
After graduation — repayments and credit
Repayments start the April after you finish or leave your course, but only if income is above your plan threshold. Plan 2 is 9% over £29,385 (2026/27); Plan 5 is 9% over £25,000 with a 40-year write-off. Use our student loan calculator to model your monthly PAYE deduction.
Student loans do not appear on your credit file like a credit card, but mortgage lenders may ask about monthly repayments when assessing affordability.
Build a credit history responsibly: one well-managed current account, paying mobile and utility bills on time, and avoiding payday loans. See our credit guide for soft-search eligibility checks.
Go deeper on money for students and young adults
Student loan repayment explained: when and how much you pay
UK student loans work nothing like normal debt: repayments depend on what you earn, not what you borrowed, and stop automatically if your income drops. This guide explains the plan types, thresholds and when the balance is written off.
Read the explainer →Student finance explained: tuition and maintenance support
Applying for student finance is the first big money decision many young adults make. This guide explains the two loans, how much you can get, and the extra grants and support available beyond the headline loans.
Read the explainer →First job money checklist: payslips, tax and pensions
Your first pay packet comes with a payslip full of deductions and a few decisions that can pay off for decades. This checklist covers the money basics to get right when you start work.
Read the explainer →Student budget guide: managing money at university
University is the first time many young people manage their own finances. Without a budget, maintenance loan payments — which arrive in three lump sums — can disappear within weeks. A simple spending plan helps you stretch your money across the full term and avoid end-of-term panic.
Read the explainer →Plan 2 vs Plan 5 student loans: which plan are you on?
England now has two main student loan plans for undergraduates. Which plan you are on depends on when you started university. The repayment threshold, interest rate, and write-off period all differ. Knowing your plan helps you understand how much you will actually repay.
Read the explainer →Maintenance loans explained: living costs at university
Tuition fee loans cover course costs, but maintenance loans pay for rent, food, and everything else. The amount you receive depends on your family's income — higher household income means a smaller loan. Unlike grants, maintenance loans must be repaid, but only when you earn above the threshold.
Read the explainer →Apprenticeships explained: pay, funding and money tips
Apprenticeships are a paid job with training, not a student loan route. Pay, tax and everyday money work differently from university — you are on PAYE from day one. This guide covers minimum pay, what employers must fund, and how to budget on an apprentice wage.
Read the explainer →Disabled Students' Allowance (DSA) explained
Disabled Students' Allowance is often overlooked because it is not a cash loan and does not appear in the main student finance headline figures. It reimburses or pays for disability-related study costs that would exist even without being a student. This guide explains who can claim and what it covers.
Read the explainer →Postgraduate Master's loan UK explained
Postgraduate loans are separate from undergraduate plans with their own repayment threshold and interest rate. Scottish and Welsh rules differ from England. This guide explains repayment and how a Master's loan interacts with existing undergraduate debt.
Read the explainer →Student overdraft rules explained
A student overdraft is debt, not free money — banks hope you stay as a graduate customer paying near 40% EAR later. The FCA treats overdrafts as regulated credit. This guide explains limits, graduate conversion and how to use an overdraft safely.
Read the explainer →Maintenance grant replacement explained
Maintenance grants for English undergraduates ended in 2016 and were replaced by larger maintenance loans. Welsh students still receive a partial grant. This guide explains current maintenance support in England and how it differs elsewhere in the UK.
Read the explainer →Graduate scheme salary guide UK
Graduate scheme intakes compete with direct-entry roles that may offer similar or better pay. Tax, student loan repayments and pension auto-enrolment all reduce take-home pay. This guide compares total packages beyond the headline salary.
Read the explainer →Paying for adult education and retraining in the UK
Going back to learning as an adult can cost less than you expect, but the funding is split across several schemes and differs in each UK nation. This guide sets out who pays for what in 2026/27, how the Advanced Learner Loan is repaid, what happens to Universal Credit while you study, and how tax works when you or your employer pay for training.
Read the explainer →Lifelong Learning Entitlement (LLE) explained
The LLE replaces undergraduate student loans and Advanced Learner Loans for level 4 to 6 courses in England with a single entitlement you can draw on for full courses or, in some subjects, individual modules. This guide separates what the Department for Education (DfE) has confirmed, including in regulations made in 2026, from what is still planned, and flags the dates that have moved.
Read the explainer →Will I pay off my student loan? Repayments by salary
Student loan repayments are set by your income, so the question most graduates really want answered is whether they'll ever clear the balance before it's written off. This page shows what you'd repay at different salaries under each plan in 2026/27, works through why balances often grow in the early years, and sets out what the Department for Education (DfE) expects to happen to borrowers.
Read the explainer →Studying in the UK as an international student: costs, visa money rules and budgeting
Studying in the UK means paying some large, fixed costs before you arrive and budgeting for living costs once you're here. This guide sets out the Student visa money rules, what the visa and health surcharge cost, how much you can work, and what the Graduate visa costs after your course. Every figure was checked against GOV.UK and the Immigration Rules on 25 September 2026.
Read the explainer →
Common questions
- Does household income affect student finance?
- It affects the maintenance loan, which is means-tested on household income. The tuition fee loan is not means-tested.
- Should I opt out of my workplace pension in my first job?
- Usually no. Your employer and the government both contribute, so opting out throws away free money. Only consider it if you genuinely cannot afford it.
- Should I overpay my student loan?
- For most graduates, no. Repayments are income-linked and written off after a set period. Overpaying only makes sense if you are a very high earner on a plan where you would otherwise repay the balance in full before write-off.
- What tax code should I have on my first payslip?
- Most new starters get 1257L (standard personal allowance). Scottish taxpayers see S1257L; Welsh taxpayers C1257L. If you see BR or an emergency code, update your details in your Personal Tax Account.