Student FAQs

StepEx finance is available only for participating education providers and eligible courses. The current courses, eligibility criteria, finance options and eligibility information are shown on the StepEx page for each education provider. You can search by education provider at https://stepex.co/finance-availability. StepEx cannot provide finance for a course or education provider that is not listed there, or that is shown as finance not available.

StepEx finance options are standardised. The amount financed, type of finance offered and repayment-term options available for a course are the options listed on the StepEx finance page for that education provider. StepEx cannot provide bespoke finance products, funding amounts or repayment terms outside those listed options.

If your course, funding option or referral information appears to be missing or incorrect, ask your education provider to contact StepEx, as the provider sets up its courses and referral codes with us. StepEx may need to confirm or correct the information with the education provider before the application can proceed.

Applicants are shown only the courses they are eligible for that are also eligible for StepEx finance. If your course is not shown, or no courses are shown, ask your education provider either to make the course eligible or to grant an exception to the eligibility criteria. Where the provider grants an exception, it issues a referral code, which you enter at the referral code stage of the application. StepEx cannot issue referral codes. All applicants must be aged 18 or over and resident in the UK, without exception.

Courses are shown only where they are eligible for StepEx finance and you meet the eligibility criteria for them, and only for the start dates your education provider has made available for finance.

If your course or start date is not shown, either your education provider or StepEx has not yet updated the finance offers for that course, or that start date is not available for finance. Ask your education provider, who can confirm the start dates on offer and can ask StepEx to make a course or start date available.

Where StepEx approves your provider's request for an exception to the eligibility criteria, your provider will give you a referral code, which you enter at the referral code stage of the application.

Referral codes are issued by your education provider, and each code is linked to a specific course, start date and fee. StepEx does not issue, change or look up a referral code.

If you do not have a code, your code does not work, or it shows the wrong course, amount or start date, ask your education provider for a new one. You enter the code at the referral code stage of the application.

Where StepEx approves your provider's request for an exception to the eligibility criteria, or has made a course available for finance that was not shown, your provider will give you a referral code in the same way.

The courses, finance options and eligibility criteria for each education provider are shown at https://stepex.co/finance-availability.

To apply, you must be 18 or over and live at a UK residential address. Additional eligibility criteria may apply depending on the specific course or finance product you are interested in. Please check this by searching for your course provider at https://stepex.co/finance-availability before applying.

StepEx normally checks your identity using a valid passport. If you do not have access to one, use "I do not have a valid passport". The application also includes the eligibility and affordability checks relevant to the finance you are applying for and may ask for additional information through the application journey.

StepEx also checks your credit history. Applicants with a history of non-repayment are unlikely to be accepted.

For some customer profiles or financed courses, StepEx also needs to validate course, funding or other application information with the education provider before finance can be approved. Your education provider has 14 days to confirm that information. If it is not confirmed within 14 days, the application is declined automatically.

Where that happens, your education provider can ask StepEx to reactivate the application, which gives them a further 14 days to confirm. Reactivation is granted by exception and is not normally given more than once, so it is worth confirming with your provider that they are ready to complete the verification before they ask.

First, try opening your StepEx application again using the link in your application email and the email address you used to start it.

Please try refreshing the page and signing out and back in. If the issue continues, and you are able to, please try another browser or device. If you are using a phone or tablet, some tables scroll sideways, so a control you expect to see may be off the edge of the screen. That is the most common cause of a button or icon appearing to be missing.

If the problem persists, please tell us what has gone wrong at https://stepex.co/support/technical-issue.

If your application was declined, StepEx was unable to approve it based on the information and checks used for that application.

Common reasons include:

Your education provider did not confirm your course information in time. Where StepEx needs a provider to verify course, funding or other application details, the provider has 14 days to do so, and the application is declined automatically once that deadline passes.

You did not use an original document during the identity checks. If you use a screenshot or image of your identity document we cannot verify your identity. You have three attempts at the identity verification.

You didn't meet our creditworthiness criteria based on your credit history.

We weren't confident that making loan repayments to us would leave you with enough to afford your essential expenses.

If the decision was based on information from a credit reference agency, the agency we used was Experian. You can ask that agency for a free copy of your credit file and ask it to correct anything that is wrong.

If you believe factual information in your application was incorrect, tell us what needs correcting using "Request a copy of my personal data".

If you would rather submit a fresh application, our current system requires you to use a different email address from the one used for the previous application.

A new application made soon after a decline is unlikely to succeed unless something has changed, for example your provider has now confirmed your course details or your circumstances are different.

Most changes can be made to your existing application — you do not usually need to start again.

If the change relates to your course, course fees, funding amount or another detail supplied by your education provider, ask your provider to contact StepEx directly to confirm the new details. A referral code is tied to a specific fee amount, so where a scholarship or discount applies, your provider needs either to issue a code for the discounted amount or to credit the difference to you directly.

A new application is only needed where the change increases your monthly repayment. In that case our current system requires you to use a different email address from the one used for the previous application.

If you have already signed a credit agreement, do not start a new application to make the change. Go to https://stepex.co/contact, choose "I have StepEx finance already" and tell us what has changed.

The amount financed, the type of finance and the repayment-term options available for a course are agreed between your education provider and StepEx, and are shown on the StepEx finance page for that provider at https://stepex.co/finance-availability. StepEx cannot offer funding amounts or repayment terms outside those options.

If you need a different amount, for example because your course fee is different from the amount shown, or a different start date, ask your education provider. Where the provider agrees, it issues a referral code for the right course, amount and start date, which you enter at the referral code stage of the application. StepEx cannot issue referral codes.

If your course or start date is not shown at all, use "My course or start date is not listed".

StepEx supports applicants through the answers on this page and through your education provider, who can help with questions about your course, your offer and your referral code.

If something on the application website is not working, report it on our technical support form at https://stepex.co/support/technical-issue.

To make a complaint, use "I want to make a complaint about StepEx". To cancel your application, use "I want to cancel it". To ask for a copy of the personal data we hold about you, use "Request a copy of my personal data".

Use the bank details and payment reference shown on the Payments page of my.stepex.co, under the bank transfers tab. The payment reference is what matches your payment to your account, so please include it exactly as shown.

This is also the route to use if your account is in a different currency from your invoice, because a Direct Debit can only be set up in the invoice currency.

If your repayments depend on your income, the amount can change from month to month. A Standing Order pays a fixed amount, so check each invoice and adjust your Standing Order when the amount changes, or you may underpay or overpay.

We do not accept credit cards. You can pay by bank transfer using the bank details and payment reference under the Payments tab on my.stepex.co, or by Direct Debit.

If you are finding it hard to pay, see https://stepex.co/support/money-worries for the help available.

To check whether a payment has been recorded, log in to my.stepex.co, open the Invoices section and check the status of the relevant invoice.

A Direct Debit collection normally appears on your account within around 5 working days of being initiated.

A bank transfer or Standing Order is matched to your account when the StepEx accounts team reconciles incoming payments, which normally happens weekly. Please allow up to 10 working days for a bank transfer to show against your invoice before contacting us about it.

For bank transfers, payments are applied first to overdue repayments, then to amounts currently due. Any remaining amount is held as account credit and used to reduce future amounts due.

If you paid from an account in another currency and the invoice still shows as partially paid, the shortfall is usually the FX or international transfer fee taken by your bank or an intermediary. StepEx receives only the net amount and has no visibility of those charges. The remaining balance stays on that invoice. Please pay it before the invoice due date so it is not treated as overdue.

Log in to my.stepex.co, open the Payments section, select the Direct Debit tab and follow the set-up steps.

You can choose a charge date between the 1st and the 20th of the month. If you do not choose one, the charge date is the 1st. You can change it later from the Direct Debit tab.

Most invoices are issued on the 1st of the month, and the Direct Debit is submitted to your bank the same day. Bank rules generally require around three working days between a Direct Debit being submitted and it being collected, so a charge date early in the month cannot be taken on that exact day. If your charge date is between the 1st and the 7th, the money will normally leave your account between the 4th and the 8th, depending on weekends and bank holidays. From the 8th onwards, it leaves on the date you chose. If that date falls on a weekend or bank holiday, it leaves on the next working day. If your invoice is issued later in the month, the Direct Debit is collected on the next available date.

You can only set up a Direct Debit in the same currency as your invoice. If your invoice is in GBP, the Direct Debit must come from a UK bank account that holds GBP. This is a limitation of the Direct Debit gateway. If your account is in another currency, see the bank transfer options on the Payments page of my.stepex.co.

You can change your Direct Debit charge date yourself from the Direct Debit tab in my.stepex.co. Any date between the 1st and the 20th of the month can be selected.

A change takes effect from the next month's collection that has not already been submitted to your bank. A collection already issued or submitted cannot be moved. Changing your charge date does not change your invoice due date.

To move your Direct Debit to a different account, cancel the existing mandate with your bank or in your banking app, then set up a new mandate from the Direct Debit tab in my.stepex.co.

The new account must be in the same currency as your invoice.

To avoid a missed repayment, make the change after this month’s repayment has left your account. If an invoice is already due when you cancel, pay it by bank transfer using the details on the Payments page.

You can cancel a StepEx Direct Debit at any time through your bank or banking app. Your banking app also shows which StepEx mandates are currently active, which is the quickest way to check whether more than one is running.

Cancelling the mandate stops future collections but does not change what you owe. Invoices already issued remain payable, and you will need to pay them another way. An invoice not paid by its due date becomes overdue, and the overdue payment fee in your agreement may apply. See the Payments page of my.stepex.co for bank transfer and Standing Order details.

Cancelling your Direct Debit does not end your agreement. If you want to repay your agreement early, use "I want to pay off my agreement early".

If a Direct Debit collection fails, StepEx retries it automatically up to 3 times. If it still fails, the collection stops permanently for that invoice, and you are notified each time it fails.

The most common cause is not enough money in the bank account on the collection day. Occasionally it is a technical issue at your bank, which you would need to raise with them. You remain responsible for making the payment.

If a collection has failed, open the Invoices section of my.stepex.co and pay the open invoice there, by bank transfer or another payment option shown in your portal. Your Direct Debit will carry on collecting future invoices on your usual date.

If paying this would cause you financial difficulty, see https://stepex.co/support/money-worries for how to ask us for help.

Log in to my.stepex.co and open the Invoices section. Each invoice shows its amount, description, due date and payment status.

StepEx invoices are normally issued on the 1st of the month and are normally due on the 28th. If a different due date is shown on the individual invoice, use the date shown on that invoice.

If your repayments depend on your income, the amount is based on your gross income for the previous month, where that income is above your minimum income threshold. Where you have not yet submitted your Circumstance Update for that month, the invoice is issued using an assumed income figure and corrected once your update is in — see the Circumstance Update FAQs at https://stepex.co/student-faqs for how that works.

The description on the invoice explains what the charge relates to. If anything appears inconsistent with your agreement or account, tell us the invoice number and what you believe it should show, and a member of the team will check it. Use "I need someone to look at my account or application".

If your repayment amount looks wrong for the month, it may be because a Circumstance Update has not been submitted or has not yet been applied. You can check and submit one from the Home page of my.stepex.co.

Each invoice in the Invoices section of my.stepex.co shows its description, amount and due date. The amount is made up of one or more of the following.

Your monthly repayment. If your repayments depend on your income, this is worked out from your gross income for the month before, as reported in your Circumstance Update, as a percentage of your whole gross income for the month, once that income is above your minimum income threshold. The percentage is the income share in your agreement. If you did not submit a Circumstance Update by the end of the 14th, StepEx uses an assumed income figure, which may be higher than what you earned. If your repayments are fixed, the amount is the monthly repayment set out in your agreement.

The monthly platform or administration fee, where your agreement has one. The amount is set out in your signed agreement.

An overdue payment fee of £20 for each repayment StepEx has not received 28 days after its due date, capped at £80 per calendar month.

If the income figure used is wrong, you can correct it yourself for the last two months. See "Correct an update from the last two months".

If the amount still does not match your agreement, tell us the invoice number and what you believe it should show. Use "I need someone to look at my account or application". A member of the team will check it.

An overdue payment fee of £20 is charged when StepEx has not received a repayment 28 days after the due date shown on its invoice. The date that counts is the day StepEx receives the payment, not the day it was sent or the Direct Debit was started: a payment started 27 days after the due date that reaches StepEx 29 days after it still incurs the fee. It applies to each overdue repayment and is capped at £80 per calendar month. The fee is set out in your credit agreement, and each fee is shown as its own invoice in the Invoices section of my.stepex.co.

If you paid on time and still see a fee, tell us the date and amount of your payment. Use "I was charged a fee but paid on time". A member of the team will check our bank records and remove the fee if the payment is found.

If you are finding it hard to pay, see https://stepex.co/support/money-worries for the help available.

The fees and charges that apply to you are set out in your signed StepEx finance agreement.

Some agreements include a monthly platform or administration fee. This is typically £1 per month, although this can be up to £10 per month. The amount relevant for you is shown in your signed agreement, available in the Documents tab of my.stepex.co.

A positive APR can still be shown on an agreement with a 0% annual interest rate because the APR reflects the overall cost of the credit, including applicable charges and fees.

If StepEx has not received a repayment 28 days after its due date, an overdue payment fee of £20 applies to each overdue repayment, capped at £80 per calendar month. The date that counts is the day StepEx receives the payment, not the day it was sent or the Direct Debit was started: a payment started 27 days after the due date that reaches StepEx 29 days after it still incurs the fee. This fee is set out in your credit agreement. Each fee is shown as its own invoice in the Invoices section of my.stepex.co.

If you paid on time and still see an overdue payment fee, tell us the date and amount of your payment. Use "I was charged a fee but paid on time". A member of the team will check our bank records and remove the fee if the payment is found.

If you are finding it hard to pay, see https://stepex.co/support/money-worries for the help available.

Some agreements include a monthly platform fee. It is charged for using the StepEx platform and services, and the amount relevant for you is shown in your signed agreement, available in the Documents tab of my.stepex.co.

The platform fee applies for the whole term of your agreement, whether or not you are in work, and it is separate from your repayments. It is still due in months when no repayment is due because your income is below your minimum income threshold.

If you cannot afford it, you can ask for help by completing a financial distress application when you are logged in to my.stepex.co. See https://stepex.co/support/money-worries for how it works.

Log in to my.stepex.co and select Submit Circumstance Update from the Home page. If your repayments depend on your income, submit an update each month your income changes. If you did not owe a repayment last month, you need to submit one this month even if your income has not changed.

WHEN TO SUBMIT

The Circumstance Update form is open from the 1st to the end of the 14th of each month, and covers your gross income for the month before. For example, January's income is due by the end of 14 February. If you have more than one job, include your total gross income from all jobs.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT

If you did not owe a repayment last month, no invoice is raised until you submit. If you have not submitted by the end of the 14th, StepEx works out your repayment using assumed income, which may be higher than what you earned. Because the invoice is created part-way through the month, it is collected at the next available Direct Debit date if your usual date has passed.

If you did owe a repayment last month, your invoice is raised on the 1st using the last gross income you reported and collected on your usual date. If you submit a different figure by the end of the 14th, StepEx recalculates. An underpayment is invoiced separately, due on the 28th. An overpayment is credited to your account.

TO CORRECT AN UPDATE

To correct an update for one of the last two months, use "Correct an update from the last two months". For a month more than two months ago, choose "I need to submit an invoice correction for a historical period".

IF THE FORM IS NOT WORKING

If you cannot submit the form, report it on our technical support form at https://stepex.co/support/technical-issue. Do not wait until after the 14th.

When you correct a Circumstance Update for a previous month, every field you are able to edit on that record needs a value before the Submit button appears, even where the value has not changed.

For each field that has not changed, enter the same value again and add a note confirming that it is unchanged. The Submit button then appears.

If you have done this and the Submit button still does not appear, report it on our technical support form at https://stepex.co/support/technical-issue. Do not wait until after the 14th.

Log in to my.stepex.co and open your Circumstance Update history. Find the month you want to correct and select the edit (pen) icon in the Actions column. On a phone or tablet you may need to scroll the table sideways to see it.

Every field you are able to edit needs a value before the Submit button appears, even where it has not changed. Enter the same value again and add a note confirming that it is unchanged.

A period can be corrected once. A further correction to the same period needs evidence, and StepEx may charge a handling fee. Corrections can take up to 14 days to process.

For a month more than two months ago, use "I need to submit an invoice correction for a historical period".

How repayments work depends on the type of StepEx agreement you have. Your signed agreement contains the exact repayment amount, income threshold, income share, repayment term and limits that apply to you, and is the authoritative record of what you have agreed.

This information is set out under some or all of the following headers (depending on your loan agreement type):

Repayments – your repayment obligation to us

When – when these repayments are due

How – how you will make these repayments

Waivers – any repayment conditions that reduce your repayment obligation if met

If your repayments depend on your income, each monthly repayment is worked out from your gross income as reported in your StepEx Portal if submitted by the 14th of the next month. If that income is not above your income threshold, no repayment is due for that month. If you do not report your income on the StepEx portal by the due date an assumed income will be used to calculate what you repay.

Your own repayment details are shown on the Home page of my.stepex.co.

You can view the payments recorded on your account and your current outstanding balance by logging in to my.stepex.co. The Home page shows a repayment summary, and the Invoices section shows the status of each paid, due or overdue invoice. Direct Debit payments normally appear within 5 working days, and bank transfers within 10 working days.

Your outstanding balance is the total amount payable under your agreement — the financed amount together with the charge for credit — less the repayments recorded so far.

If you want to know how much it would cost to repay your agreement in full now, that is an early settlement figure. Use "I want to pay off my agreement early".

StepEx sends annual statements for its regulated credit agreements as part of the statutory information requirements that apply to those agreements.

The statement covers the period shown and summarises key information about your agreement and account activity, including payments and the balance and charges recorded on the account for that period.

You do not need to take action simply because you have received the statement. If you think any information in it is incorrect, use "Something on my invoice or account looks wrong".

Your current balance and payment history are available at any time in my.stepex.co.

You can see the repayments and balance currently recorded on your account at my.stepex.co. StepEx will write to you to confirm when an agreement has been completed — you do not need to do anything to trigger that.

Your final repayment may be a different amount from your usual one, because the remaining balance is smaller than a full repayment, or due to rounding.

Once your final repayment has been collected, no further Direct Debit collections will be taken for this agreement, so you do not need to cancel the Direct Debit yourself.

If you are worried that you may miss a payment, are already behind with payments, or your repayment is not affordable, you can ask StepEx for help by completing a financial distress application when you are logged in to your StepEx portal at my.stepex.co.

If your repayments depend on your income and your income has gone down, submit a Circumstance Update on my.stepex.co between the 1st and the end of the 14th of the month. Your repayment is worked out from the income you report.

Free, independent debt advice is available from StepChange, National Debtline, Citizens Advice and MoneyHelper. None of them charges for advice. You can find them through MoneyHelper at https://www.moneyhelper.org.uk.

For details on how to complete a financial distress application, the impact of it and other options available, please go to https://stepex.co/support/money-worries. StepEx will confirm the outcome of your application within 14 days of receiving it.

If you cannot use the portal, for example because of a health condition or disability, you can write to us using the address in the footer of any page of www.stepex.co.

If your query was regarding the means of making a payment rather than difficulty affording a payment please see "Pay another way".

You can view the invoices and payment statuses currently recorded on your account in the Invoices section of my.stepex.co.

Please note NOSIA notices are required to be provided by us to you even if you are in a complaint or financial distress pause. They are not by themselves an indication that any enforcement action is occurring.

If you have received a default notice, it shows the amount you need to pay and the date by which to pay it. If that amount is paid by that date, no further action is taken on that notice. You can pay overdue invoices from the Invoices section of my.stepex.co.

If the amount on a default notice is not paid by the date shown, the default may be recorded with credit reference agencies, which can affect your ability to get credit in future.

If you believe an arrears status or a default notice is incorrect, tell us the invoice number, payment details or account information you believe is wrong. Use "I believe my account is up to date". StepEx will review the account and the relevant payment records. If an error is confirmed, StepEx will correct the account and any related records.

If you are finding it hard to pay, free, independent debt advice is available from StepChange, National Debtline, Citizens Advice and MoneyHelper. For details on how to complete a financial distress application, the impact of it and other options available, please go to https://stepex.co/support/money-worries.

StepEx is required to send you a notice of sums in arrears when your account has fallen behind by a set number of repayments, typically two missed repayments. It is a statutory notice that we must send to every customer in that position, and it is not a demand for immediate payment of the whole balance.

The notice sets out the repayments that have been missed and the amount outstanding as at the date shown on it. It will not reflect any payment made after that date, so if you have paid recently the next notice will show it. It comes with an information sheet from the Financial Conduct Authority explaining arrears and where to get help.

To bring your account up to date, pay the overdue invoices shown in the Invoices section of my.stepex.co. If you believe your account is up to date, or a payment you have made is not shown, tell us. Use "I believe my account is up to date". A member of the team will check your payment records.

If you are finding it hard to pay, free, independent debt advice is available from StepChange, National Debtline, Citizens Advice and MoneyHelper. For details on how to complete a financial distress application, the impact of it and other options available, please go to https://stepex.co/support/money-worries.

Thank you for letting us know.

If you are working with a debt adviser, an insolvency practitioner or a debt management company, they can contact StepEx on your behalf with your signed authority, and we will deal with them directly.

If a formal arrangement is already in place — an individual voluntary arrangement, a debt relief order, bankruptcy, a protected trust deed, a Debt Arrangement Scheme plan, or a Breathing Space or Mental Health Crisis moratorium — ask your adviser, insolvency practitioner or trustee to contact StepEx and tell us which one, the date it started and the reference number, and we will make sure your account is handled accordingly.

Free, independent debt advice is available from StepChange, National Debtline, Citizens Advice and MoneyHelper. None of them charges for advice.

Your signed credit agreement and the pre-contract information are in the Documents section of my.stepex.co, reached from the Documents tab in the right-hand side menu. Your annual statements are there too.

You can access a copy of your agreement at any time in the Documents tab of the StepEx portal.

If your education provider has told you it intends to refund all or part of your course fees to StepEx, contact the provider first about when it will be sent. StepEx cannot chase a refund that the provider has not yet released.

If the provider has told you the payment has already been sent and it is not showing against your account after the normal processing period, please ask the provider to contact StepEx so StepEx can obtain the information required from them to trace it against the payment records.

A refund sent to StepEx reduces your outstanding balance and StepEx will not accept a refund that exceeds this amount from the education provider. Any amount owed to you by your education provider in excess of your outstanding balance will be settled directly between your education provider and you.

StepEx settles your finance amount for course fees directly with your course provider on the 1st of the month after you sign your finance agreement.

If that date has passed and your course provider says it has not received payment, ask your provider to contact StepEx directly, as the provider holds the details needed to trace the payment.