People conflate the two loans constantly, and it causes unnecessary worry. They are separate.
The tuition fee loan
Covers your course fees up to the cap. It is paid directly to the university. The money never touches your account and you cannot spend it on anything else.
The maintenance loan
Covers living costs. It lands in your bank account in three instalments across the year. How much you get depends on where you study, whether you live at home, and your household income.
Repayment
On Plan 5 you repay 9% of everything you earn above £25,000 a year. On £30,000, that is around £37 a month. It comes out of your pay like tax. If your income drops below the threshold, repayments stop.
The write-off
Anything still outstanding 40 years after your first April of repayment is cancelled. For many mature students, the practical effect is that they repay a portion and never the whole balance.
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