Calculate your annual student loan repayments for 2026/27 or 2025/26.
Supports all UK plans: Plan 1, 2, 4, 5, and Postgraduate Loan.
Select all plans that apply to you — each is calculated independently.
Each plan has its own dedicated page with 2025-26 & 2026-27 thresholds, worked examples at common salaries, and eligibility details. See the
full thresholds reference
for every plan's annual, monthly and weekly figures back to 2021/22 in one table.
A UK student loan behaves more like a graduate tax than a normal debt. You repay a percentage of income
above a threshold — not a fixed amount based on what you borrowed — and if your income is below
the threshold you repay nothing that period, no matter how large the balance. Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5 take 9%
of income over their threshold; the Postgraduate Loan takes 6%.
For employees, repayments are deducted automatically through PAYE once a pay packet exceeds the weekly or
monthly equivalent of the threshold. Because it is assessed per pay period, a one-off bonus month can
trigger a deduction even if your annual income is modest. Self-employed borrowers pay through Self
Assessment.
The five plans and their 2026/27 thresholds
Plan
Who
Threshold
Rate
Written off
Plan 1
Pre-2012 E&W; NI
£26,900
9%
25 yrs
Plan 2
E&W 2012–2023
£29,385
9%
30 yrs
Plan 4
Scotland
£33,795
9%
30 yrs
Plan 5
E&W from 2023
£25,000
9%
40 yrs
Postgraduate
Master's / doctoral
£21,000
6%
30 yrs
Hold an undergraduate plan and a Postgraduate Loan and the two stack: a graduate with a Plan 2 or
Plan 5 loan plus a Postgraduate Loan repays 9% + 6% = 15% across the band above both thresholds. Two
undergraduate plans do not stack — someone holding, say, Plan 1 and Plan 2 makes a single 9%
repayment over the lower of the two thresholds.
Interest, write-off, and whether to overpay
Interest varies by plan: Plan 1 and Plan 4 are capped at the lower of RPI or base rate plus 1%; Plan 2
ranges from RPI to RPI + 3% by income, capped at a 6% maximum for the 2026-27 academic year; Plan 5 is
RPI only. But because repayments are income-based and the balance is cancelled after the plan term, the
headline interest rate matters far less than it would on a normal loan.
That is why overpaying is usually the wrong move. On Plan 5's 40-year term especially, a large share of
borrowers never clear the loan before write-off, so voluntary payments simply hand over money that would
otherwise have been cancelled. Overpaying only helps high earners who are on track to repay in full well
before the write-off date — model your own trajectory before deciding.
Frequently asked questions
What are the different student loan plans in the UK?
There are five main plans. Plan 1: started before September 2012 in England/Wales, or any time in Northern Ireland. Plan 2: English students who started between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023, and Welsh students who started on or after 1 September 2012. Plan 4: Scottish students. Plan 5: English students who started on or after 1 August 2023. Postgraduate Loan: master's and doctoral loans. You can hold more than one — for example a Plan 2 or Plan 5 undergraduate loan plus a Postgraduate Loan.
How are student loan repayments calculated?
As a percentage of income above a threshold — never on the loan balance. Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5 take 9% of income above their threshold; the Postgraduate Loan takes 6%. Earn below the threshold and you repay nothing, whatever you owe. It behaves more like a graduate tax than a normal loan.
What are the repayment thresholds for 2026/27?
For 2026/27: Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 (Scotland) £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000, and Postgraduate Loan £21,000. Only income above these figures is subject to repayment. If you hold more than one of Plan 1, 2, 4 and 5, only the lowest of your thresholds is used — those loans share a single 9% repayment rather than one each.
How are repayments collected?
If you are employed, repayments come out automatically through PAYE once your pay passes the weekly or monthly equivalent of the threshold — so a big bonus month can trigger a deduction even if your annual income is modest. If you are self-employed, they are collected through Self Assessment.
What happens if I have more than one loan plan?
It depends which plans. Two or more of Plan 1, 2, 4 and 5 do not stack: you make one 9% repayment, taken over the lowest of your thresholds, and HMRC splits that single payment between the loan balances. A Postgraduate Loan is different — its 6% is charged separately and concurrently on its own threshold, so a higher earner with an undergraduate plan and a Postgraduate Loan can pay 15% of income across the overlapping band. The calculator above lets you select every plan that applies.
How does interest work on student loans?
It varies by plan. Plan 1 and Plan 4 interest is capped at the lower of RPI or the Bank of England base rate plus 1%. Plan 2 runs from RPI up to RPI plus 3% on a sliding scale by income, though the government has capped the maximum Plan 2 and Postgraduate rate at 6% for the 2026-27 academic year (from 1 September 2026). Plan 5 is RPI only. Because repayments are income-based, interest often matters less than expected — many borrowers never repay the full balance before write-off.
When is a student loan written off?
Any remaining balance is cancelled after a set period, counted from the April you were first due to repay: Plan 1 after 25 years, Plans 2 and 4 after 30 years, the Postgraduate Loan after 30 years, and Plan 5 after 40 years (the longest, introduced in the 2023 reform). Older loans differ: a Plan 1 loan first paid before 1 September 2006 is written off at age 65, and a Plan 4 loan first paid before 1 August 2007 at 65 or after 30 years, whichever comes first. The Student Loans Company also cancels a loan on the borrower's death, and may cancel it if you can no longer work because of illness or disability and claim certain disability benefits.
Should I overpay my student loan?
Usually not. Because repayments are income-contingent and the balance is written off after the plan term, many borrowers — especially on Plan 5's 40-year term — never repay it in full. Voluntary overpayments only help high earners who would clear the loan anyway; for most people the money is better used elsewhere.
