UK Student Loan Repayment Calculator
Work out your 2026-27 student loan repayment on Plan 1, 2, 4 or 5, including a postgraduate loan alongside, and the effective rate it adds to your pay.
How to use this calculator
- 1Enter your gross annual salary before tax.
- 2Choose your plan — it depends on where and when your course started, and your loan statement will say.
- 3Tick the postgraduate box if you also hold a master's or doctoral loan, which is repaid alongside.
- 4Compare the effective rate against the headline rate: the difference is the threshold doing its work.
How the calculation works
Repayment = 9% × (salary − plan threshold). A postgraduate loan adds 6% × (salary − £21,000) on top- plan threshold
- £26,900 Plan 1, £29,385 Plan 2, £33,795 Plan 4, £25,000 Plan 5
- on top
- Postgraduate repayment is additional to the undergraduate plan, not instead of it
The percentage applies only to income above the threshold, so the effective rate on total salary is always well below the headline 9%. Someone on £40,000 with a Plan 2 loan repays about 2.4% of salary, not 9%.
Which plan applies depends on where and when the course started, not on the subject or the amount borrowed. Plan 5 reaches repayment for the first time in April 2026.
Repayment is calculated from income rather than from the balance, so it does not change as the balance falls. The balance only matters at the point it is cleared or written off.
Worked example
£40,000 salary on Plan 2
- 1.The Plan 2 threshold for 2026-27 is £29,385.
- 2.Income above it: £40,000 − £29,385 = £10,615.
- 3.Repayment is 9% of that = £955.35 a year, or £79.61 a month.
- 4.That is about 2.4% of salary, not the headline 9%.
Result: £955.35 a year — 2.4% of salary
The same salary with a postgraduate loan too
- 1.The Plan 2 repayment is unchanged at £955.35.
- 2.The postgraduate loan adds 6% of income above £21,000 — 6% × £19,000 = £1,140.
- 3.Both are repaid together, giving £2,095.35 a year.
- 4.The combined marginal rate on income above both thresholds is 15%.
Result: £2,095.35 a year — both loans repaid at once
Which plan you are on, and why it matters
The plan is set by where you studied and when the course started, not by what you studied or how much you borrowed. Plan 1 covers courses beginning before September 2012 in England and Wales, plus Scottish and Northern Irish students. Plan 2 covers English and Welsh courses from September 2012 to July 2023. Plan 4 is for Scottish students funded by SAAS. Plan 5 covers English courses starting from August 2023 and reaches repayment for the first time in April 2026.
The thresholds differ substantially — from £25,000 on Plan 5 up to £33,795 on Plan 4 — so two people on identical salaries can repay very different amounts. Your annual statement states the plan, and payroll needs it right or the deduction will be wrong.
Why the effective rate is far below 9%
The headline "9% of income" is the most misleading figure in the system, because the 9% applies only to income *above* the threshold, never to the whole salary.
Someone earning £40,000 on Plan 2 repays 9% of £10,615, not 9% of £40,000 — £955 a year, an effective rate of 2.4%. The gap between the headline and the reality narrows as income rises, but at typical graduate salaries it is large enough that quoting 9% substantially overstates the burden.
Repayments are also calculated from income rather than from the balance. Owing £20,000 or £60,000 produces exactly the same monthly deduction at the same salary — the balance only becomes relevant at the point it is cleared or written off.
Why overpaying usually does not pay
The instinct to clear a debt early runs into an unusual feature of this one: most graduates never repay it in full. Balances are written off after a set period — commonly 30 years on Plan 2 and 40 on Plan 5 — and for many earners the interest outpaces the repayments throughout.
For anyone in that position, voluntary overpayments simply hand over money that would otherwise have been written off. They shorten nothing, because repayment is driven by income rather than balance, and they reduce nothing you would ever actually have paid.
Overpaying makes sense in a narrow case: a high earner who will clearly clear the balance well before write-off, where reducing the interest genuinely reduces the total paid. Everyone else is usually better off putting the money into a pension, an ISA, or a mortgage. It is one of the few debts where the standard advice to clear it early is generally wrong.
What this assumes, and where it stops
Assumptions
- A single UK salary taxed through PAYE for the whole year.
- 2026-27 thresholds, which are set each April.
- The plan selected is the correct one for the course and country.
- A postgraduate loan, where held, is repaid alongside the undergraduate plan.
Limitations
- Interest is not modelled, since it affects the balance rather than the compulsory repayment.
- Write-off dates differ by plan and are not projected.
- Self-employed repayments are collected through Self Assessment on a different basis.
- Repayments through PAYE are calculated per pay period, so an irregular income can produce a different annual total from the figure here.
Common questions
How much is my student loan repayment?
9% of everything you earn above your plan threshold — £29,385 on Plan 2, £25,000 on Plan 5, £26,900 on Plan 1 and £33,795 on Plan 4. On a £40,000 salary with a Plan 2 loan that is about £955 a year, or £80 a month. Because the 9% applies only above the threshold, the effective rate on your whole salary is far lower — around 2.4% in that example.
Which student loan plan am I on?
It depends on where you studied and when the course started. Plan 1 for courses before September 2012 in England and Wales, plus Scottish and Northern Irish students; Plan 2 for England and Wales from September 2012 to July 2023; Plan 4 for Scottish students funded by SAAS; Plan 5 for English courses from August 2023. Your annual statement confirms it, and payroll needs the right one or the deduction will be wrong.
Should I pay off my student loan early?
Usually not. Most graduates never clear the balance before it is written off — commonly after 30 years on Plan 2 or 40 on Plan 5 — so overpaying hands over money you would never have paid. Repayment is driven by income rather than balance, so overpaying does not reduce your monthly deduction either. It only makes sense for a high earner who will clearly clear the balance well before write-off.
Do I repay two loans at once if I did a master's?
Yes. A postgraduate loan is repaid at 6% of income above £21,000, in addition to 9% above your undergraduate threshold — not instead of it. Someone on £40,000 with both a Plan 2 and a postgraduate loan repays roughly £2,095 a year across the two, and faces a combined marginal rate of 15% on income above both thresholds.
Sources
- Repaying your student loan: what you pay — UK Government
- Student loans: a guide to terms and conditions — UK Government
Formula and content last reviewed on .
Results are estimates for information only, not professional advice.
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