2026/27 thresholds: Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 (Scotland) £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000 (first repayments due this tax year), Postgraduate Loan £21,000. Undergraduate plans repay 9% of income above the threshold; Postgraduate Loans repay 6%. If you hold both an undergraduate and a postgraduate loan, both repayments apply simultaneously. Not tax advice.
Calculate Your UK Student Loan Repayment
The Tools Kit’s free UK Student Loan Calculator shows how much you repay each month and each year on Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4 (Scotland) or Plan 5, with an option to add a Postgraduate Loan. Enter your gross salary, pick your plan, and the repayment updates instantly using the 2026/27 thresholds. The calculation runs in your browser, and you do not need an account.
On a £32,000 salary, Plan 2 repays about £20 a month (£235 a year), while the same salary on Plan 1 repays about £38 a month (£459 a year), because Plan 1 has a lower threshold. To see the deduction next to income tax and National Insurance on a full payslip, use the UK take-home pay calculator.
How to Use the Student Loan Repayment Calculator
- 1
Enter your annual salary
Type your gross (pre-tax) annual salary in pounds. Commas and spaces are ignored, so 32,000 and 32000 both work. Type the number only, without the £ sign.
- 2
Choose your undergraduate plan
Pick Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4 (Scotland) or Plan 5. Each option shows its 2026/27 repayment threshold next to the name.
- 3
Tick the box if you also have a Postgraduate Loan
A Postgraduate Loan is repaid at the same time as an undergraduate plan, so ticking the box adds 6% of income above £21,000 on top.
- 4
Read your repayment
The monthly and annual repayment update instantly, with the postgraduate portion shown separately when the box is ticked.
2026/27 Student Loan Thresholds by Plan
Your plan depends on where and when you started your course. Each plan has its own yearly threshold, and you repay a fixed percentage of income above it. These are the figures the calculator uses:
| Plan | Threshold | Rate | Who it covers |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | 9% | Started in England or Wales before 1 September 2012, or studied as a Northern Ireland student |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | 9% | Started in England between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023, or in Wales from 1 September 2012 |
| Plan 4 | £33,795 | 9% | Scottish students funded through SAAS |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | 9% | Started in England on or after 1 August 2023; 2026/27 is the first tax year repayments are due |
| Postgraduate Loan | £21,000 | 6% | Master’s or Doctoral loan, repaid alongside any undergraduate plan |
If you are unsure of your plan, your Student Loans Company account and your payslip both show it. Choosing the wrong plan can change the result a lot: on £32,000, Plan 5 repays about £53 a month, while Plan 4 repays nothing because the salary is below its £33,795 threshold.
How Student Loan Repayments Are Calculated
Repayments work like a separate tax band that only applies above your threshold:
Annual repayment = (salary − threshold) × rate, and it is zero if your salary is at or below the threshold. Monthly repayment = annual repayment ÷ 12.
Because only the part above the threshold is charged, a pay rise adds less than people expect. Going from £28,000 to £30,000 on Plan 2 moves the repayment from £0 to about £55 a year, since only £615 of the rise is above £29,385. At £45,000 the Plan 2 repayment is 9% of £15,615, or about £1,405 a year (£117 a month). The same reasoning applies to any percentage of a slice of income, which you can check with the percentage calculator.
Repayments come out of your pay through PAYE, and your employer works them out each pay period against a monthly or weekly share of the threshold. In a month with overtime or a bonus, the deduction can be higher than the calculator’s monthly figure, which assumes the same pay every month. To compare an hourly rate or day rate with these annual figures, convert it first with the salary to hourly calculator.
Repaying an Undergraduate and a Postgraduate Loan Together
Many master’s graduates hold both an undergraduate loan and a Postgraduate Loan. The two are repaid at the same time, not one after the other, and each uses its own threshold: 9% above your undergraduate plan’s threshold plus 6% above £21,000.
On a £40,000 salary with Plan 2 and a Postgraduate Loan, the undergraduate repayment is 9% of £10,615, about £955, and the postgraduate repayment is 6% of £19,000, or £1,140. Together that is £2,095 a year, about £175 a month. Tick the Postgraduate Loan box and the calculator adds the second repayment on top and shows the postgraduate portion as its own figure.
What This Calculator Does Not Cover
This tool works out repayments from your salary only. It does not track your loan balance, add interest, or predict when you will clear the loan or reach your plan’s write-off date, and it does not model voluntary overpayments. For a general look at how interest builds on a balance over time, try the compound interest calculator, and to see what a fixed-term personal loan would cost instead, use the loan calculator. Your Student Loans Company account remains the authoritative source for your balance and interest.
Common uses
- Checking the student loan deduction on a new job offer or a pay rise
- Comparing Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4 and Plan 5 when you are unsure which plan applies
- Budgeting for a master’s degree that adds a Postgraduate Loan on top of an undergraduate plan
- Understanding a payslip deduction before you move to a full take-home pay estimate
- Planning a monthly budget as a recent graduate, alongside tools like the GPA calculator for students still finishing a course
For more money and salary tools, browse all calculator tools.
Student loan terms explained
| Term | What it means here |
|---|---|
| Repayment threshold | The yearly income above which repayments start. Below it, nothing is deducted |
| Repayment rate | 9% of income above the threshold for Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5; 6% for a Postgraduate Loan |
| Gross salary | Pay before income tax and National Insurance, the figure student loan repayments are based on |
| PAYE | Pay As You Earn: your employer deducts the repayment from your payslip and passes it to HMRC |
| Student Loans Company (SLC) | The body that manages your loan account, balance and plan type |
| Write-off | The point at which any remaining balance is cancelled, set by your plan’s rules |
Frequently Asked Questions
You repay 9% of your income above your plan’s threshold on Plans 1, 2, 4 and 5, and 6% above £21,000 on a Postgraduate Loan. On a £32,000 salary, Plan 2 repays about £235 a year, or roughly £20 a month, because only the £2,615 above the £29,385 threshold is charged.
The calculator uses these 2026/27 thresholds: Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 (Scotland) £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000 and Postgraduate Loan £21,000.
Repayment = (salary minus threshold) × rate, and it is zero if your salary is at or below the threshold. For Plan 1 on £32,000: (£32,000 − £26,900) × 9% = £459 a year, about £38 a month.
It depends on where and when you started your course. Plan 1 covers England and Wales starters before September 2012 and Northern Ireland students; Plan 2 covers England starters from September 2012 to July 2023 and Wales starters from September 2012; Plan 4 is for Scottish students; Plan 5 covers England starters from August 2023. Your Student Loans Company account and your payslip show your plan.
Choose Plan 2 and enter your salary. The tool takes 9% of everything you earn above £29,385. At £45,000 that is 9% of £15,615, or about £1,405 a year and £117 a month.
Plan 5 repays 9% of income above £25,000, the lowest undergraduate threshold. On a £32,000 salary that is 9% of £7,000, or £630 a year, about £53 a month. 2026/27 is the first tax year in which Plan 5 repayments are due.
Yes. Both deductions run together, each against its own threshold. On £40,000 with Plan 2 and a Postgraduate Loan, you repay £955 on the undergraduate loan and £1,140 on the postgraduate loan, a total of £2,095 a year, about £175 a month.
No. If your salary is at or below your plan’s threshold, the repayment is £0. For example, £32,000 on Plan 4 is below the £33,795 threshold, so nothing is repaid.
Only the part of your salary above the threshold is charged. A rise from £28,000 to £30,000 on Plan 2 takes you from £0 to about £55 a year, because just £615 of the rise is above the £29,385 threshold.
No. It calculates repayments from your salary only. It does not track your loan balance, add interest or predict when the loan is paid off or written off. Your Student Loans Company account shows those details.
Through PAYE, repayments are worked out each pay period against a monthly or weekly share of the threshold, so a month with overtime or a bonus can produce a higher deduction. The calculator uses your annual salary, which matches your payslip when your pay is the same every month.
Reviewed by Raja Jahangir · Last reviewed: October 2026
How much do you repay on a UK student loan each month?
UK student loan repayments are 9% of income above your plan's annual threshold for Plan 1, 2, 4, and 5, or 6% above the Postgraduate Loan threshold. Someone earning £3,000 above their threshold repays £270 a year, about £22.50 a month. Earn below the threshold and nothing is deducted that month.
Do you repay an undergraduate and a postgraduate loan at the same time?
Yes. If you hold both an undergraduate plan and a Postgraduate Loan, both deductions run at once: 9% above the undergraduate threshold plus 6% above the postgraduate threshold, a combined 15% on income above both. Each loan uses its own threshold, so the postgraduate deduction usually starts at a lower salary.
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