Adding a student loan

Walk-through

1. Open the employee detail page > Employment tab.
2. Scroll to Student loans.
3. Click Add student loan.
4. Pick:
   • Plan — plan_1, plan_2, plan_4 (Scotland), plan_5, or postgrad
   • Effective from — usually the employee start date OR the date HMRC notified you
5. Save.

When to add what

• P45 says SL deduction stopped — they've paid off. Don't add.
• P45 says SL deduction ongoing, plan known — add the matching plan
• P45 says SL deduction ongoing, plan unknown — add Plan 1 as default; HMRC will issue a notice to correct (typically within 2 weeks)
• Starter declaration "Yes, I have a student loan" — same as above: Plan 1 default until HMRC corrects
• Postgraduate loan (PGL) — adds alongside any undergrad plan; both deductions run together

Multiple plans

An employee can have ONE active undergrad plan (1/2/4/5) PLUS Postgrad. Adding a second undergrad plan auto-ends the previous one — only one active at a time.

Ending

When HMRC tells you the loan is paid off (Stop Notice), open the row and click End. Effective_to stamps to the day before the next pay-period start.

How the engine handles it

Per pay period:

• Threshold pro-rated (annual / period count)
• Earnings above the period threshold taxed at the plan rate
• Independent calculation from PAYE — not a tax credit, an additional deduction
• Stops automatically if employee pay falls below threshold in a given period

Audit

Every add / end is logged to the audit log with actor + timestamp + plan.