UK Student Loan Repayment Calculator 2026/27
See your monthly student loan repayment on Plan 1, 2, 4, 5 or Postgraduate from your salary, how long the balance takes to clear at a given interest rate, and whether it will be written off first.
| Repayment threshold / rate | — |
|---|---|
| Repayment this year | — |
| Interest added this year | — |
| Outcome | — |
| Total you will repay | — |
| Effective extra tax rate on income above the threshold | — |
In short
UK student loan repayments are 9% of income above the plan threshold — £26,900 (Plan 1), £29,385 (Plan 2), £33,795 (Plan 4), £25,000 (Plan 5) — or 6% above £21,000 for Postgraduate loans in 2026/27, deducted through PAYE and written off after 25, 30 or 40 years; most Plan 2 and Plan 5 graduates never clear the balance, so overpaying rarely pays.
Who this is for: UK graduates checking their monthly repayment, whether the loan will ever be cleared, and whether overpaying makes sense.
How UK student loan repayments work
Repayments are collected through PAYE as a percentage of income above the plan's threshold — not of the balance. For 2026/27:
| Plan | Who | Threshold | Rate | Written off |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | Started before Sept 2012 (England/Wales), NI | £26,900 | 9% | 25 years / age 65 |
| Plan 2 | England/Wales, Sept 2012 – July 2023 | £29,385 | 9% | 30 years |
| Plan 4 | Scotland | £33,795 | 9% | 30 years |
| Plan 5 | England, from Aug 2023 | £25,000 | 9% | 40 years |
| Postgraduate | Master's / PhD loans | £21,000 | 6% | 30 years |
Interest is RPI-linked (Plan 2: RPI to RPI + 3% sliding with income; Plan 5, 1 and 4: RPI; Postgraduate: RPI + 3%). For most Plan 2 and Plan 5 graduates the balance is never cleared and is written off, so the loan works like a 9% graduate tax; overpaying only makes sense if you will repay in full anyway — typically higher earners with smaller balances.
Repayments count the same income as National Insurance (including bonuses) and are deducted even if you have several loans — Plan 2 and Postgraduate together take 15%.
See also: UK Take-Home Pay Calculator 2026/27.
Assumptions
- Repayment = rate × (salary − threshold) ÷ 12 using the 2026/27 thresholds in the UK rules file.
- Projection: monthly interest at the rate you enter, salary rising annually by your pay-rise %, until cleared or the write-off year.
- Voluntary overpayments are added to each month's payment in the comparison run.
Worked example
Repayment = 9% × (38,000 − 29,385) = £775 a year, £65 a month. Interest adds about £2,064 a year — nearly three times the repayment, so the balance grows.
Projected with 3% pay rises: not cleared — about £58,600 repaid over 25 years and roughly £49,700 written off. A £100 monthly overpayment would just clear it in the final year and cost about £26,000 more in total.
Frequently asked questions
Should I overpay my student loan?
Only if you are on course to repay the whole balance before write-off — usually a high earner with a small balance. For most Plan 2/5 graduates overpayments are wasted because the remaining debt is cancelled anyway.
Do I repay if I move abroad?
Yes — you must tell the SLC, and repayments are set using a country-specific threshold (lower in Pakistan, the UAE and Saudi Arabia than in the UK) based on your declared income.
Does the loan affect my mortgage?
Lenders count the monthly repayment as a commitment in affordability checks, but the balance itself is not on your credit file.
Which plan am I on?
Your SLC online account or payslip shows it; English students who started between 2012 and 2023 are Plan 2, from August 2023 Plan 5.
How much student loan do I repay on £30,000?
Plan 2: 9% of (30,000 − 29,385) = £55 a year, about £5 a month; Plan 5: £450 a year, £37 a month; Plan 1: £279 a year.
When is a Plan 2 loan written off?
30 years after the April you were first due to repay, regardless of the balance.
Related calculators
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