{"id":997,"date":"2026-02-26T15:41:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T15:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/?p=997"},"modified":"2026-02-26T15:41:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T15:41:07","slug":"when-you-stop-being-a-student-nsmw-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/2026\/02\/26\/when-you-stop-being-a-student-nsmw-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"When you stop being a student – NSMW 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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I just graduated this year, and I remember thinking that finishing university would feel super dramatic. The graduation gown. New job. Adulthood.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One day you\u2019re a student, the next day you\u2019re not, and suddenly letters, emails and pay slips start landing in your inbox that feel very\u2026 adult. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the last few months since I graduated, I\u2019ve been trying to understand all of this, which is why I wanted to share my experience. I know graduating and moving onto a completely new chapter of your life can feel daunting, so I hope this blog helps to bring some clarity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Student Loan repayments:<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many people are under the assumption that as soon as you graduate, money will start leaving your bank account to pay towards your student loan. Repayments only start once you\u2019re earning over the repayment threshold. Depending on what plan you\u2019re on, these payment thresholds are different.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plan 1: \u00a326,065 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plan 2: \u00a328,470 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plan 5: \u00a325,000 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once your income goes above the threshold, your employer will automatically deduct the repayments through PAYE (Pay As You Earn) from your salary.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Student Bank Accounts<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I graduated, I assumed that the student bank account I opened in first year would just\u2026stay the same. Once you graduate, most banks will eventually move you onto a graduate account. Depending on which bank you are with, this can mean there will be changes to interest-free overdraft etc., so this is something to be aware of. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Council Tax<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a student, you are exempt from paying\u00a0Council\u00a0Tax. Unfortunately, once you graduate, you lose this privilege. The exemption usually ends as soon as your course finishes, not when your actual graduation ceremony is. That small detail is important, as\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0easy to assume\u00a0you\u2019re\u00a0covered until the end of summer.\u00a0You\u2019re\u00a0often not.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You should go to your local council\u2019s website and register. This means setting up an account and telling them when your student status changes. This only takes around ten minutes but can save you a lot of unnecessary stress! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Your first Graduate Pay slip<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Seeing your pay slip for the first time can feel overwhelming. There are many numbers and deductions there, e.g. National insurance, pension contributions, and student loan.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What helps is breaking it down line by line and matching each deduction to each purpose. I found that on my first pay slip, the tax code was incorrect. This meant that I was being underpaid and overtaxed – I then contacted the payroll team at my workplace, who were able to assist me. You can always contact the payroll team at your place of employment for any questions you have regarding this. If you\u2019re like me in the medical field, I\u2019d strongly advise checking out the Instagram @medicsmoney<\/a>, which helps to empower doctors to be more financially literate. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Money Mentors are here to support you through this journey. Always feel free to message us with any questions, we are here for you! \ud83d\ude0a <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Duaa Ali Faruqi\u00a0<\/strong>
King\u2019s Student Money Mentor<\/strong>\u00a0
Part of Money & Housing Advice<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The King\u2019s Student Money Mentors blog shares our students\u2019 personal experiences and thoughts on money-related topics. Any reference, opinions or recommendations on a particular company\/brand are only the views of the student(s) who wrote the blog post.\u202fKing\u2019s College London, the Money & Housing Advice service and the Money Mentor project do not share the views in the blogs nor endorse any of the companies mentioned.\u202fReaders should conduct their own research before using any companies mentioned in our blog posts.<\/em>\u202f <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I just graduated this year, and I remember thinking that finishing university would feel super dramatic. The graduation gown. New job. Adulthood.   One day you\u2019re a student, the next day you\u2019re not, and suddenly letters, emails and pay slips start landing in your inbox that feel very\u2026 adult.  Over the last few months since I graduated, I\u2019ve been trying to understand all of … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “When you stop being a student – NSMW 2026”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1196,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[55,3,19],"class_list":["post-997","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised","tag-banking","tag-national-student-money-week","tag-payslips","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1196"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=997"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":998,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/997\/revisions\/998"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=997"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=997"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.kcl.ac.uk\/moneymentors\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=997"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}