UK Student Loan Repayment Calculator 2026/27

How It Works

UK student loans are income-contingent: what you repay each month depends only on what you earn, not on how much you borrowed. The rule is simple — you repay 9% of your income above your plan's threshold (or 6% on a Postgraduate Loan). Earn below the threshold and you repay nothing at all. The size of your loan balance has no effect on the monthly amount; it only affects how long you keep repaying.

The 2026/27 thresholds (6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027) are:

Payroll works on each pay period, not on the year as a whole. Your employer compares each month's pay with the monthly threshold and deducts 9% (or 6%) of the excess, rounded down to the whole pound. So a bonus month can trigger a deduction even in a year when your total income ends up below the yearly threshold — you can ask for a refund at the end of the tax year. And if you have two jobs, repayments are only taken from jobs where that job's pay is above the threshold; your incomes are not combined.

Which Plan Am I On?

You cannot choose your plan — it depends on where you applied for student finance and when you started your course. Plan 1 covers England and Wales courses started before 1 September 2012, and everyone who applied to Student Finance Northern Ireland. Plan 2 covers England courses started between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023, and Wales courses started on or after 1 September 2012. Plan 4 covers everyone who applied to the Student Awards Agency Scotland. Plan 5 covers England undergraduate courses started on or after 1 August 2023. The Postgraduate Loan plan covers master's and doctoral loans from Student Finance England or Wales — Scottish postgraduates are on Plan 4 and Northern Irish postgraduates on Plan 1. If you are unsure, check your Student Loans Company online account.

Worked Example

Take a Plan 2 borrower earning £40,000 a year. The income above the £29,385 threshold is £40,000 − £29,385 = £10,615. At 9%, the yearly repayment is £10,615 × 9% = £955.35 a year, which is £79.61 a month or £18.37 a week. On the payslip, payroll uses the monthly threshold instead: £3,333.33 a month minus £2,448 leaves £885.33, and 9% of that is £79.68, rounded down to £79.

The same £40,000 salary on other plans: On Plan 5 (threshold £25,000) the repayment is £1,350 a year, or £112.50 a month — £32.89 a month more than Plan 2, because Plan 5's threshold is £4,385 lower. On a Postgraduate Loan (threshold £21,000, rate 6%) it is £1,140 a year, or £95.00 a month. And if you hold both a Plan 2 loan and a Postgraduate Loan, you repay on both at once: £79.61 + £95.00 = £174.61 a month. GOV.UK's own example confirms the method: a Plan 1 borrower on £33,000 a year is paid £2,750 a month, minus the £2,241 monthly threshold leaves £509, and 9% of £509 is £45.81 — rounded down to £45 on the payslip.

Monthly repayments at different salaries, for the three plans people ask about most:

Notice how the Postgraduate Loan takes the most at low salaries despite having the lowest rate — its £21,000 threshold is the lowest of the five — while Plan 5 takes the most at higher salaries, because its threshold sits £4,385 below Plan 2's.

Assumptions — and What This Calculator Leaves Out

• One plan at a time. If you have two plans, work them out separately and add them: a Postgraduate Loan is always repaid on top of any undergraduate plan, while two undergraduate plans are repaid as a single 9% deduction above the lower threshold.
• Employed, paid in equal monthly amounts. The figures use the annual method (9% or 6% of annual income above the annual threshold, divided by 12). Payroll uses monthly thresholds and rounds down, so your payslip can differ by a pound or two.
• Self-employed borrowers are assessed by HMRC on their whole year's income through Self Assessment, with repayments already made through a salary deducted.
• Thresholds change on 6 April each year. These figures are for 2026/27 and were checked on GOV.UK on 13 November 2026.
• Not covered: interest on your balance, your remaining balance or payoff date, write-off rules, repayments while living overseas, and refunds. For those, check your Student Loans Company account or GOV.UK.

Sources: GOV.UK — Repaying your student loan: how much you repay (2026/27 thresholds, 9% and 6% rates, worked examples) and GOV.UK — Which repayment plan you're on. Last reviewed: 13 November 2026.

Built and tested by SumKitTool — see how we check our numbers.

How to Use This Calculator

Enter your annual salary before tax — your gross income, including bonuses and overtime, since those count towards repayments. Then choose your loan plan from the list. If you are not sure which plan you are on, use the “Which plan am I on?” section above. Results update as you type: the headline figure is your monthly repayment, and the table shows the yearly and weekly figures, your plan's threshold and the rate applied.

Try the plan dropdown even if you already know your plan — it is the quickest way to see how much the threshold matters. At £40,000 a year, Plan 5 costs £112.50 a month while Plan 2 costs £79.61, purely because Plan 5's threshold is lower. And if you have a Postgraduate Loan alongside an undergraduate plan, run the calculator twice (once per plan) and add the two monthly figures together.

Tips and Practical Advice

Do not confuse the repayment with the balance. Your monthly deduction is set by your income and your plan, not by how much you owe — so a bigger loan does not mean a bigger monthly payment.

Check your plan on your payslip. Employers sometimes hold the wrong plan on file — for example after a job change — and the wrong plan means the wrong deduction. If your Student Loans Company letter says one plan and your employer has another, show them the letter and ask them to update payroll; you can claim a refund if you overpaid because of the wrong plan.

Watch out for bonus months. Because payroll looks at each pay period separately, a month with a large bonus can push you over the monthly threshold and trigger a deduction even if your annual income is below the yearly threshold. If that happens, you can ask for a refund at the end of the tax year.

Finally, remember that repayments stop when your income drops. If you go below your plan's threshold — because of part-time work, a career break or unemployment — deductions stop automatically through payroll, and restart only when your pay rises above the threshold again.

Frequently Asked Questions