Student Loan Repayment Calculator 2026-27

Student loan repayments are collected through PAYE alongside income tax and National Insurance, so for most people they simply appear on the payslip without any action. You repay 9% of everything you earn above your plan's threshold, or 6% on a Postgraduate Loan. For 2026/27 the thresholds are £26,900 on Plan 1, £29,385 on Plan 2, £33,795 on Plan 4 in Scotland and £25,000 on Plan 5. On a £32,000 salary with a Plan 2 loan, £2,615 sits above the threshold, which gives £235.35 a year or £19.61 a month.

Deductions are worked out per pay period rather than annually, so what comes off in a given month reflects that month's pay rather than your yearly total. Two undergraduate plans, such as Plan 1 and Plan 2, do not mean two deductions: you repay a single 9% of income over the lower of the two thresholds, and the SLC splits it between the loans. A Postgraduate Loan is different. A Plan 2 borrower who also has one pays 9% above £29,385 and 6% above £21,000 at the same time, and the two run alongside each other.

Which plan you are on depends on where and when you started your course rather than on any choice you made. Plan 1 covers courses started before September 2012 in England and Wales, along with Northern Ireland borrowers. Plan 2 covers courses started in England from September 2012 to July 2023, and any course started in Wales from September 2012. Plan 4 replaced Plan 1 for Scottish borrowers in 2021. Plan 5 applies to courses started in England from 1 August 2023. A Postgraduate Loan for a master's or PhD sits on top of any undergraduate plan, with its own £21,000 threshold and 6% rate.

Write-off is the part that changes how this debt should be thought about. Plan 1 balances are cleared 25 years after the course ended, or at age 65 for older borrowers. Plans 2 and 4 are written off after 30 years, and Plan 5 after 40. Because repayment is a fixed share of income above a threshold rather than a fixed instalment, many graduates never clear the balance at all. Department for Education forecasts published in July 2026 expect 55% of full-time undergraduates who started in 2025/26, all on Plan 5, to repay in full, which leaves 45% with part of the balance written off. For them the loan functions as a 9% graduate tax lasting up to 30 or 40 years, which is why voluntary overpayments usually achieve nothing beyond handing money over early.

Interest is charged at RPI plus up to 3%, capped at 6% from 1 September 2026, with the exact figure depending on income and plan. Plans 1, 4 and 5 are charged at RPI alone, which is 4.1% for the year from 1 September 2026. Only Plan 2 carries an income-linked margin, running from 4.1% at £29,385 or below to the 6% ceiling at £52,885 and above. For anyone who will never repay in full the rate is largely academic, since the balance is written off regardless. It only bites if you are on course to clear the debt, which in practice means earning well above the threshold consistently for 25 years or more.

Not everyone repays through PAYE. The self-employed pay through Self Assessment, based on profits above the threshold. Working abroad does not end the obligation either, since the Student Loans Company issues a repayment schedule using country-specific thresholds, so the £29,385 Plan 2 figure translates to roughly $40,000 in the United States or €34,000 across much of Europe. Failing to declare overseas earnings can lead the SLC to apply the UK threshold and charge 9% regardless, which is rarely in your favour. Overseas employment should be declared within 30 days.