Q: I had prepared myself this year to begin making repayments of my student loan from April. I’d been told by the Student Loan Company that it would all be sorted with my loan automatically being paid through PAYE, but according to my payslip it hasn’t been paid. The school bursar knows nothing about it and has no idea how to sort it out, or even how much I should be repaying! I’ve dug out some information for her but I’m not totally convinced it’s all going to be sorted without more hassle. Any advice? Will I be penalised or chased up for not paying it when I should have?
A: If you still haven’t had the deductions from your salary by now, it is time to start hassling the bureaucrats. Start with the department at the local authority who pay your salary each month. They are probably used to deducting payments for new teachers and should be familiar with the process involved. If you cannot get any action, contact your professional association. They will undoubtedly also be familiar with the problem and can advise you how on to proceed.
