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We are bound by the Data Protection Act, meaning that we can't discuss details of your account with anyone else unless you give your permission.

If you want someone else to have access to your account, you can give permission on one of two levels:

1. allow them to get information about your account, by providing 'consent to share'
2. allow them to make changes to your account, by giving them 'power of attorney'

By giving 'consent to share', you authorise us to provide information about your account (with the exception of your bank details) to a person nominated by you.

To give 'consent to share',contact us by telephone or letter:

• quoting your Customer Reference Number
• providing the full name, address (including postcode) and date of birth of the person you're nominating, and stating their relationship to you
• giving a password for them to use when they contact us

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There's no need to call us to resolve this: you can reset your log in details online if we have you up to date e-mail address.

You'll get your reminder by email, so make sure you keep us up to date with any change to your email address. To update your details, login to your student finance account:

• Student Finance England
• Student Finance Wales
• Student Finance Northern Ireland
• Student Awards Agency for Scotland

A student is considered either to be dependent on his parents or independent.

A dependent student - for example, a school leaver who goes to university or college after finishing A-Levels - is supported by his parents, although he may also have income of his own to be taken into account.

A student who is independent is considered to support himself from his own income and that of any spouse or partner: for example, mature students who have worked and are returning to study later in life.

A student is independent if any of the following is true:

• the student is 25 or over on the first day of an academic year;
• the student has ever been married or in a civil partnership before the first day of an academic year (even if he is now divorced or the civil partnership has been dissolved);
• the student has no parent living;
• neither of the student's parents can be found or it is not reasonably practicable to get in touch with them;
• the student is irreconcilably estranged from his parents;
• the student has been in local authority care for three months ending after age 16 and before the first day of the first academic year of the course;
• the student's parents are abroad and cannot practicably, or without being placed in jeopardy, provide money to the student or supply the information necessary for financial assessment;
• the student has the care of a child on the first day of an academic year (this does not have to have been the case for any minimum length of time) or;
• the student has been self-supporting financially for a period of three years ending before the first day of the first academic year of the course (even if this is no longer the case);

If none of these apply, the student is dependent.

HM Revenue & Customs notifies us once a year, after the end of the tax year, of how much you have paid towards your student loan through the tax system.

This means that we can only monitor your outstanding balance on an annual basis, rather than monthly. For that reason, it is possible you could repay more than is outstanding on your loan.

For further information on what to do when you reach the end of your repayment term please check our repayment website:

• Student Loan Repayment

We issue a statement to you shortly after HM Revenue & Customs notify us about any repayments you have made during the previous tax year.

We are normally notified of your repayments once a year, after the end of the tax year. The time of the year that we receive this notification can vary from year to year. Annual statements are issued for the previous tax year, so any repayments deducted from your salary during the current tax year will not show on your annual statement.

You can check your balance online by going to:

• Student Loan Repayment

If you have Income Contingent Loans (loans taken out from 1998) and will be overseas for more than 3 months, completing an Overseas Income Assessment Form will enable us to calculate how much you need to repay.

This form together with details of how to pay back loans from overseas can be found on our repayment website:

• Student Loan Repayment

The interest rate is set by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) each year. It is normally based on the Retail Price Index each March and takes effect from the September of that year.

On income based loans, interest is charged at 0% from 1 September 2009 to 31 August 2010.

On fixed term loans, interest is charged at -0.4% from 1 September 2009 to 31 August 2010.

Please note: we do not have any details of the interest rate from 1 September 2010.

Due to the nature of the RTL scheme, we will be unable to supply you with balance details online. If you need any information regarding your balance or RTL write off amounts, please contact the RTL Helpline on:

0845 0738 891

Opening hours: Monday - Friday (8:00am - 5:30pm).

In order to defer your repayments you need to complete and return an application form and provide proof of your gross income or means of financial support.

Only your income is taken into account - you do not need to provide income details of your spouse, partner, parents or any other relatives.

Please contact us to request a form.

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