Moving from the United Kingdom to France does not make a UK student loan disappear. It can, however, change the way the Student Loans Company (SLC) calculates and collects what it says you owe. A letter showing a fixed monthly amount, a new overseas schedule or a growing arrears balance should therefore be checked rather than accepted blindly.

The practical question is usually not whether you have to repay at all. It is whether SLC has identified the correct repayment plan, the correct period of French income, the correct exchange-rate method and the evidence you supplied. If you have lived outside the UK for more than three months, you are expected to update SLC and to renew the information each year. If you do not, SLC may use a fixed amount and add missed instalments to the account.

This article explains the UK calculation and the French legal issues that can arise if a dispute later becomes a cross-border recovery matter. It covers personal borrowers living in France after Brexit, not a French bank loan, a property purchase or company formation. The figures below are the official 2026–27 figures checked for France; the relevant SLC schedule should always be checked again before a payment or challenge.

I. What does a UK student loan repayment notice mean after moving to France?

A. Which repayment plan and French income figure apply?

A UK student loan repayment notice is first a question of classification. The SLC account may contain a Tuition Fee Loan, a Maintenance Loan for living costs, a postgraduate loan, or more than one loan on different plans. The fact that the money helped pay for the same university course does not necessarily mean that every balance is calculated in the same way. The official UK guidance distinguishes those loans from grants and bursaries, which are normally not repayable, while overpayments of student finance can be recoverable.

You cannot simply choose the most favourable plan. The plan depends on the funding authority, the date on which the course began and the type of course. For example, Student Finance England normally places a student who began an undergraduate course before 1 September 2012 on Plan 1. A Student Finance England undergraduate course beginning between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023 is generally Plan 2. An English undergraduate course beginning on or after 1 August 2023 is generally Plan 5. A Welsh undergraduate course beginning on or after 1 September 2012 is generally Plan 2, while a Scottish borrower is normally on Plan 4 and a Northern Irish borrower on Plan 1. A Master’s or Doctoral loan is dealt with under the Postgraduate Loan plan.

These are starting points, not a substitute for the account record. The official plan guidance says that a borrower with more than one loan may be on different plans and that the plan cannot be selected by the borrower. Download the active plan type letter from your SLC online account. If an employer, a previous payroll system or SLC has attached the wrong plan, keep the letter and ask for a written correction. A wrong plan can affect the threshold, the percentage, the interest applied and the total shown as overdue.

For a borrower living in France, the country table then matters. The current overseas threshold pages apply from April 2026 to March 2027 and use the euro with an exchange rate of 0.853461. The published French figures are:

Repayment plan	France threshold for 2026–27	Repayment rate or published fixed amount	Fixed monthly amount if required information is missing
Plan 1	£21,520 a year	9% of income above the threshold	£342
Plan 2	£23,510 lower threshold; £42,310 upper threshold	9% above the lower threshold; the upper threshold is also relevant to interest	£327.20
Postgraduate Loan	£16,800 a year	6% of income above the threshold	£252
Plan 5	£20,000 a year	9% of income above the threshold	£353.60

The figures come from the 2026–27 Plan 1 table, the Plan 2 table, the Postgraduate Loan table and the Plan 5 table. SLC can update tables for a later year, and the page for your own plan remains the controlling practical source.

To understand a notice, rebuild the calculation in pounds sterling. If your French gross income is €3,000 per month for twelve months, an illustration using the published rate gives €36,000 multiplied by 0.853461, or approximately £30,724.60. Under the Plan 2 figures above, the excess over £23,510 would be approximately £7,214.60. Nine per cent of that annual excess is approximately £649.31, which would be approximately £54.11 per month before considering the precise SLC assessment rules and any other relevant income. This is an illustration, not a promise that SLC will use every figure in exactly that way.

Do not confuse the SLC exchange rate with the rate on your French bank statement or the rate used by your French tax software. The published rate is part of the overseas repayment table. If SLC has used a different rate, a different period or a different currency conversion, identify the line, the document and the date in your challenge. A simple assertion that “the euro was stronger” is less useful than a schedule showing the exact sterling figure, the source of the euro figure and the rate that should have been applied.

Also separate the SLC income test from French income tax. A French tax notice is evidence of a tax calculation; it is not automatically the same as the gross income figure requested by SLC. The account may require documents covering employment income, self-employment, pensions or other sources. If you complete a UK Self Assessment return, the HMRC guidance explains that Plan 1, Plan 2 and Plan 4 deductions are calculated at 9% above the relevant threshold, while a postgraduate deduction is 6%; it also identifies PAYE employment, self-employed profits, property income and unearned income above £2,000 as categories that can matter for that return. That HMRC exercise is separate from the overseas evidence SLC asks you to provide.

A part-year move makes the comparison more difficult. The UK tax year runs from 6 April to 5 April, while a French payslip, French tax notice and SLC overseas review may not use the same dates. Mark the day on which you left the UK, the day on which you became resident or started work in France, the first French payroll date, every period of UK employment and every period with no income. If SLC has treated a full year as French income when you only moved part-way through it, ask for the exact assessment period and the rule used rather than arguing from an annual total alone.

The same discipline is needed where income varies. A bonus, a commission, a change from salaried work to self-employment, a French pension or a period of unpaid leave may make a monthly notice look implausible without proving that the whole account is wrong. Prepare a month-by-month table, then explain the exceptional month. If your documents contain French expressions such as avis d’impôt (tax assessment notice), bulletin de salaire (payslip), attestation employeur (employer certificate) or relevé bancaire (bank statement), identify each term in English when submitting it. The purpose is to make the evidence intelligible, not to provide a decorative translation.

B. Why does Brexit change the collection route but not the loan?

Brexit did not convert a UK student loan into a French loan, and moving to France does not cancel the underlying repayment obligation. The GOV.UK overview states that a borrower leaving the UK for more than three months must tell the SLC. It also says that repayment is expected unless the borrower provides evidence that overseas income is below the relevant threshold. The overseas process is therefore an information and calculation process first, followed by payment through the SLC account or another permitted method.

For an employee who remains in the UK, deductions may appear alongside tax and National Insurance. A person working for a French employer will not normally see a UK employer deduction on a French payslip. The official repayment guidance explains that someone abroad can use the online account or an international bank transfer once SLC has set the amount. The absence of a UK payroll deduction is not evidence that no repayment is due; it only means that the collection mechanism is different.

There is a critical distinction between an SLC account notice and a French tax assessment. A notice may ask you to update employment details, state a monthly instalment, or show arrears. It is not, merely because it was sent to France, a French avis d’imposition (tax assessment) issued by the French tax authority. Nor does the notice, by its mere existence, automatically establish the enforceable title required for forced execution against a French bank account or other asset. That does not mean a cross-border demand can be ignored. It means that the first response should usually be directed to the SLC calculation and the evidence, while any later court document must be treated as a separate urgent stage.

French law becomes relevant if the dispute reaches a French court or a creditor seeks to recognise and enforce a foreign judgment in France. The French Civil Procedure Code calls the recognition or enforcement procedure exequatur: a French court checks whether a foreign decision can produce the requested effect in France. Article 509 of the Code de procédure civile provides that Les jugements rendus par les tribunaux étrangers et les actes reçus par les officiers étrangers sont exécutoires on French territory in the manner and cases provided by law. The rest of the provision matters: the route is determined by the applicable law, not by the demand letter alone.

The French enforcement code is even more specific. Article L111-3 of the Code des procédures civiles d’exécution begins, Seuls constituent des titres exécutoires :, and includes foreign acts and judgments only when they have been declared enforceable by a decision not subject to a suspensive appeal, subject to applicable European Union rules. A normal SLC repayment schedule is not automatically transformed into that category simply because the underlying loan originated in the United Kingdom. The exact document, the date, the jurisdiction clause, the form of any judgment and the instrument governing recognition must be checked.

Article L111-2 of the same code describes the position of a creditor who has a title: Le créancier muni d’un titre exécutoire constatant une créance liquide et exigible may pursue forced execution on the debtor’s assets under the rules for the particular enforcement measure. “Liquide et exigible” means, in practical terms, that the amount is quantified and due. A disputed conversion, an unexplained fixed rate or arrears built from missing information may be important evidence when testing the amount, but it does not by itself decide whether a title exists.

Article L111-4 adds a time limit for the enforcement of the titles referred to in Article L111-3: L’exécution des titres exécutoires mentionnés aux 1° à 3° de l’article L. 111-3 ne peut être poursuivie que pendant dix ans, unless the underlying recovery action has a longer limitation period. This is not a safe ten-year answer to every SLC question. It applies to the enforcement titles and exceptions described by the French code; it does not replace the limitation rules that may govern the original UK loan or a particular international instrument.

The currency point is also document-specific. Article 1343-3 of the Code civil states, Le paiement, en France, d’une obligation de somme d’argent s’effectue en euros. The provision then allows payment in another currency where the obligation comes from an international transaction or a foreign judgment. That rule helps explain why a French enforcement analysis cannot be reduced to the exchange rate printed on an SLC overseas table. It does not rewrite the SLC calculation; it identifies a possible issue at the payment or enforcement stage.

If a French court were ever asked to deal with a due monetary debt, Article 1343-5 of the Code civil allows the judge, taking account of the debtor’s situation and the creditor’s needs, to reporter ou échelonner, dans la limite de deux années, le paiement des sommes dues. This is a judicial power, not an automatic right created by an email to SLC. It must be considered in the correct proceeding, with the correct evidence, and it does not remove the need to challenge an incorrect calculation.

The Court of Cassation’s published decision of 29 January 2014, no. 12-28.953, is a useful warning against treating a foreign decision as self-executing. Its official analysis says that L’accueil d’un jugement étranger dans l’ordre juridique français exige le contrôle and then identifies indirect international jurisdiction, international public policy and the absence of fraud as the relevant checks. The decision concerned foreign civil-status material, not a student loan, so it does not answer the SLC dispute. It does show why a lawyer must inspect the procedural route rather than assume that a UK demand has the same effect as a French judgment.

A UK-related example appears in the Court of Cassation, First Civil Chamber, judgment of 9 September 2015, no. 14-13.641, concerning a judgment from Guernsey. The Court upheld the conclusion that cette décision étrangère n’était pas conforme à la conception française de l’ordre public international de procédure because the foreign decision lacked adequate reasoning and no equivalent material had been produced. Again, this does not mean that an SLC notice is invalid. It means that if enforcement later depends on a foreign judgment, procedural fairness, the ability to understand the decision and the opportunity to challenge it can become legally significant.

Finally, do not use a general French limitation period as a reason to stop responding. Article 2224 of the Code civil says that Les actions personnelles ou mobilières se prescrivent par cinq ans from the date when the holder knew or should have known the facts enabling the action. The provision is part of French law and may be relevant to a French action, but it does not automatically govern the original UK loan, the SLC account, a foreign judgment or an applicable treaty. Limitation must be analysed by instrument and by procedural stage.

II. How do you challenge an incorrect overseas-income assessment from France?

A. What documents and calculation should you send to SLC?

Start with the notice and preserve the evidence before contacting anyone. Save the PDF, the envelope if a date of receipt matters, the email headers, the online-account message, the repayment schedule and every previous letter. Record your Customer Reference Number, the plan shown, the amount requested, the first due date, the period reviewed, the fixed monthly amount and the arrears figure. Take a dated screenshot of the account before you upload documents. The objective is to make it possible for a person who has never seen your file to identify precisely what changed.

Then create a one-page chronology. Put the UK departure date on the first line. Add the French address, the date of arrival, the date of the first French employment or self-employment, periods of unemployment, periods of UK employment, changes of employer and dates on which SLC was contacted. Add the date on which each document was uploaded and the confirmation reference. If you moved more than once, list each country and the dates. SLC’s country threshold is attached to the country of residence used for the assessment; a form that records an old address can therefore produce a seemingly unexplained result.

On a second page, identify each loan separately. Use one row for Plan 1, one for Plan 2, one for Plan 5 and one for a postgraduate loan if relevant. State the balance shown by SLC, the threshold used, the exchange rate, the income period, the annualised income, the percentage and the monthly result. Do not combine different plans into a single average. If you do not know whether a balance is a Tuition Fee Loan or a Maintenance Loan, say so and request the plan-by-plan account history rather than guessing.

A useful evidence pack for French employment may include the employment contract, payslips for the full period, an employer certificate stating the start date and gross remuneration, the relevant French tax notice, bank statements showing salary payments and proof of any period without work. The French bulletin de salaire is the payslip; the attestation employeur is the employer certificate; the avis d’impôt is the tax assessment notice. Label each file in English, keep the original PDF and do not crop away the dates or employer identity. If SLC asks for a certified translation, deal with that request specifically; do not assume that a machine translation will meet it.

For self-employment, assemble the documents that explain both the period and the figure you are reporting: registration or cessation evidence, invoices or accounts where requested, French social-contribution records, tax filings and bank statements. Explain whether a figure is turnover, taxable profit, drawings or a payment received for an earlier period. Those concepts are not interchangeable. If your income was irregular, show the underlying months and do not present a single unusually high bank credit as an annual salary without explanation.

For pension income, include the pension provider statements, the payment dates, the currency and any UK or French tax documents relevant to the period. For a mixed year, add the P45 or P60 for the UK employment, French payslips after the move and a note explaining the gap. For unemployment or a period with no earnings, provide the documents that actually establish that position rather than merely stating “I had no income”. A bank statement may support the point, but the relevant SLC form or guidance should determine what evidence is sufficient.

Use the published SLC rate consistently in your working sheet. Put the original euro amount in one column, the rate in a second, the sterling equivalent in a third and the threshold comparison in a fourth. Keep full precision in the calculation and round only at the point required by the SLC process. If your calculation differs from SLC by a small amount, still show the reason: an exchange-rate date, an excluded month, a bonus, a pension payment or a plan threshold. A credible explanation of a small difference often exposes a larger classification error.

Send the information through the official SLC employment-details process and retain the submission confirmation. The official page says that details must be updated when you leave the UK for more than three months, return after more than three months away or receive a request from SLC. It also explains that SLC uses those details to work out whether repayment is due. If the online form does not allow you to explain a material calculation error, upload a concise covering letter and ask for the matter to be referred for a manual review.

Ask for a written answer to four separate questions. First, which repayment plan or plans did SLC apply? Secondly, what income period and categories were used? Thirdly, what exchange rate and threshold were applied for France? Fourthly, how was the arrears figure built month by month? Ask SLC to issue a corrected repayment schedule if the evidence changes the amount, and ask how any disputed arrears will be treated while the review is pending. Do not assume that sending documents automatically suspends collection; request confirmation of what remains payable and keep the undisputed amount available.

The evidential approach has a French legal parallel. If the matter later becomes a French proceeding, Article 6 of the Code de procédure civile provides that A l’appui de leurs prétentions, les parties ont la charge d’alléguer les faits propres à les fonder. Article 9 adds, Il incombe à chaque partie de prouver conformément à la loi les faits nécessaires au succès de sa prétention. These provisions do not turn SLC’s internal review into a French trial. They do explain why a chronological, indexed pack is stronger than a long narrative with no calculation trail.

Keep a communication log. Note the date, channel, name or reference, question asked, answer given and next action. If you telephone from France, follow the call with a written summary. The GOV.UK repayment guidance confirms that overseas borrowers can make payments through the online account or by international bank transfer; use the Customer Reference Number exactly as directed. Never send a payment to an account copied from an unverified message. If bank details change, verify them through the official account or contact route.

There are several common mistakes. Do not send only a French tax notice when the relevant period is a different UK tax year. Do not send only a bank statement with no explanation of salary, pension or savings. Do not use the net amount after French income tax when SLC asks for a gross figure. Do not assume that a household income figure is the same as your personal income. Do not report a new French address without recording the date on which you left the UK. Finally, do not upload multiple contradictory versions of the same calculation; identify the corrected version and explain why it replaces the earlier one.

B. What happens if SLC leaves the assessment or arrears in place?

Separate three situations: a wrong calculation, arrears caused by missing information and a complaint about the service. A wrong calculation requires a request for recalculation supported by the plan and income evidence. Arrears caused by a failure to update may remain payable even if your current income is below the threshold, because SLC treats the missed amounts as an overdue part of the account. A service complaint concerns what SLC did or failed to do, such as losing documents or failing to explain a decision. Using the wrong label can send the case down the wrong route.

The SLC’s published arrears guidance says that someone outside the UK for three months or more who is above the country threshold is expected to repay. It also says that arrears can build if employment details were not updated or if the scheduled payments were not made. The guidance describes the arrears as part of the overall overdue balance, not an additional charge. It advises a borrower with an arrears balance to make an arrangement directly with SLC. That is a reason to ask for a recalculation and, separately, to propose a payment arrangement where an undisputed balance remains; it is not a reason to let every letter go unanswered.

If you need to discuss arrears, use the official contact details on the GOV.UK arrears page. It lists an arrears enquiries line at +44 141 243 3970. The page also explains that payments made through UK payroll after a return to the UK may not automatically reduce an overseas arrears balance. Ask SLC to confirm in writing how a payment will be allocated before assuming that it settles the disputed period.

For a complaint about handling, the SLC complaints procedure asks for the Customer Reference Number, date of birth, full name and address, what happened and when, and what you want SLC to do to put it right. It states that complaints should be made as soon as possible and may be limited if made more than twelve months after the event without a good reason. It also distinguishes an appeal about a student-finance entitlement decision from a complaint about service. Even if your issue is a repayment assessment rather than an initial funding entitlement, use the written response to identify whether SLC has given you an appeal route, a review route or a complaint route.

The same procedure lists an overseas repayment telephone number, +44 141 243 3660, and the email address [email protected] for complaints. It says that SLC aims to acknowledge a complaint within five working days and provide a detailed response within twenty working days, subject to complex cases. If you remain dissatisfied, it allows a request for review by an Independent Assessor. The published procedure makes clear that an Independent Assessor does not have legal power to overturn a correctly made decision. Use that stage to challenge the handling and reasoning, not as a substitute for sending the underlying income evidence.

When you write, state the remedy in operational terms. You might ask SLC to remove a month in which you were below the French threshold, replace the fixed amount with an evidence-based schedule, correct the plan, reallocate a payment, recalculate the exchange conversion, or explain why a document was rejected. Attach a short index and number each document. Quote the relevant line of the notice and respond to it. If your household has two borrowers, make separate submissions with separate Customer Reference Numbers.

Do not stop every payment simply because you have challenged a figure. If there is an amount that you accept, ask how to keep paying it while the disputed part is reviewed. If you cannot pay the scheduled amount, tell SLC immediately and ask about an arrangement. A record showing that you engaged, supplied evidence and sought an affordable solution is more useful than an unexplained default. Conversely, do not accept an inflated fixed amount merely to avoid a conversation; pay only through a verified channel and preserve the evidence of what you have paid.

If SLC threatens court proceedings, check what the document actually is. A collection email, a pre-action letter, a claim form and a judgment are different documents with different responses and deadlines. Record the court, claim number, claimant, amount, interest, legal basis, service date and response deadline. Obtain the underlying loan terms and the calculation relied on. If the document is a UK claim, obtain advice on the UK procedure as well as the consequences of living in France. If a French commissaire de justice (judicial officer) serves papers, do not confuse that service with proof that the claimant already has a French enforceable title; ask for the title and the legal basis of the step.

French procedure places emphasis on notification of judgments. Article 503 of the Code de procédure civile says, Les jugements ne peuvent être exécutés contre ceux auxquels ils sont opposés qu’après leur avoir été notifiés, à moins que l’exécution n’en soit volontaire. Article 675 provides that judgments are generally notified by formal service unless the law provides otherwise, and Article 680 requires the notification to state the applicable time limit and method for opposition, appeal or cassation where such a remedy exists. The links to Article 675 and Article 680 should be read with the actual document served. These provisions do not erase a debt; they help determine whether an enforcement deadline has started and whether the document gives the required procedural information.

Article 509 and Article L111-3 then explain why the nature of the document matters. Recognition of a foreign judgment in France may require an exequatur application or another route depending on the applicable instrument. The French judge can examine the international jurisdiction of the foreign court, compliance with international public policy and fraud, as reflected in the Court of Cassation decision of 29 January 2014, no. 12-28.953. The 9 September 2015 decision, no. 14-13.641, also shows that the procedural material supporting the foreign judgment can be important. Neither case authorises a merits appeal against every UK calculation. Both caution against assuming that a foreign decision is automatically enforceable without checking the route.

A general French contract provision may also appear in a later argument, but it must be used carefully. Article 1103 of the Code civil states, Les contrats légalement formés tiennent lieu de loi à ceux qui les ont faits. The provision expresses the binding force of a lawfully formed contract under French law. It does not decide which law governs a UK student loan, whether a particular SLC decision is correct, or whether a foreign court has jurisdiction. It does show why the signed loan terms, statutory regulations and repayment-plan documents should be collected before anyone makes a broad argument about cancellation.

If an enforcement file reaches France, Article L111-2 requires the creditor to have a title recording a quantified and due claim before forced execution can be pursued. Check whether the amount is a single judgment sum or a running account that still requires a calculation. Check whether payments, credits, write-offs, limitation arguments or plan-specific corrections have been included. Article L111-4’s ten-year rule should be placed beside the title date, later enforcement acts and any longer period governing the claim. Article 2224’s five-year rule should not be quoted as a universal answer; the governing law may be British, French, treaty-based or affected by the judgment.

Article 1343-3 can become relevant if the amount is expressed in pounds and a French payment or enforcement step is proposed. The provision recognises an exception for an international operation or a foreign judgment, so a pound-denominated debt is not automatically invalid in France. The issue is usually how the amount is established, what date controls the conversion and whether the claimed sum is fixed and due. Put the sterling statement, the euro calculation and every payment on one schedule rather than treating the currency issue as a substitute for challenging the underlying income assessment.

If immediate payment would cause serious difficulty, explain the financial position with documents: French payslips, rent or mortgage, essential household costs, dependants, existing enforcement, bank statements and a realistic proposal. Article 1343-5 may allow a French judge to delay or spread a qualifying monetary payment over up to two years, but it is not a general stay of every SLC demand and it does not prevent the creditor from disputing the underlying calculation. An application for time should be made in the correct forum and supported by a budget, not raised for the first time after an account seizure.

Four fact patterns deserve particular attention. If the notice is a fixed £342, £327.20, £252 or £353.60 figure despite documents that were uploaded, ask why SLC treated the information as missing and request a revised schedule. If your income was below the threshold but an arrears figure remains, challenge the historic classification and ask separately for an arrears arrangement. If two plans are being charged as one, demand a plan-by-plan breakdown. If a court or enforcement document refers to a different address, name, date or amount, preserve the discrepancy and seek advice immediately; a procedural defect may affect the available response, but it is never wise to assume that it ends the case automatically.

For a British person living in Paris or elsewhere in France, the most efficient legal review is usually document-led. Send the notice, active plan letter, chronology, calculation sheet, proof of French income, proof of what was already paid and all SLC responses. A lawyer can then distinguish a simple administrative correction from a contractual dispute, a complaint, a UK court deadline or a French recognition and enforcement issue. That distinction controls the next letter, the evidence and the deadline.

For ease of reference, the additional French provisions discussed above are Article L111-2, Article L111-4, Article 1343-5 and Article 2224 of the French codes. The two foreign-judgment decisions cited are Cass. 1re civ., no. 12-28.953 and Cass. 1re civ., no. 14-13.641.

Conclusion

A UK student loan repayment notice sent to France should be answered in four stages: identify every repayment plan, rebuild the French-income calculation using the applicable SLC table, submit dated evidence through the official overseas process and keep the arrears or enforcement stage separate from the calculation dispute. The 2026–27 France figures are useful for checking a notice, but they do not replace the schedule and documents in your own account.

Brexit changes the cross-border setting, not the need to deal with SLC. A routine notice is not automatically a French tax bill or a French enforceable title, yet a formal claim or foreign judgment must never be ignored. French Articles 503, 509 and L111-3, together with the Court of Cassation decisions cited above, show why notification, jurisdiction, public policy, fraud and the precise enforcement instrument matter. Articles 6 and 9 show the value of presenting a clear factual and evidential record. If the figures, arrears, service documents or French assets are disputed, obtain advice before the next deadline.

Need a quick opinion on your case

A telephone consultation within 48 hours with a lawyer from the firm can help you test the SLC calculation, organise the French evidence and identify whether the matter is an administrative review, a complaint or a cross-border enforcement issue.

Call Maître Reda Kohen on +33 6 46 60 58 22 or use the firm’s contact page to send the notice and the documents that explain your position.