If you’re a Welsh student you can get up to £1,500 knocked off your student loan in one easy step

Welsh students who received a maintenance loan over the past six years can get up to £1,500 knocked off their debt in one easy step.

Students who received a loan for living costs from Student Finance Wales in the academic year 2010/11 or after qualify after making their first payment.

The reduction is only applied once you start paying, due to the partial cancellation scheme agreed by the Welsh Government in August 2010.

In basic terms, Welsh students are eligible for partial cancellation if they make a one-off repayment on their loan. The minimum for this is five pounds. By paying a fiver you can literally save yourself £1,500.

Students are only entitled to claim partial cancellation once. The earlier you pay, the more money you save as once the £1,500 is deducted it won’t attract interest.

The scheme is designed to encourage Welsh students to attend university with the abillity to reduce debt amounts. A Welsh Government spokeswoman said

“We are also planning to introduce the most generous and progressive system anywhere in the UK for students that will see them receive the equivalent of the National Living Wage during term time while they study from September 2018.”