Student loan repayment calculator

The calculator runs the loan month by month from November 2026. Each month interest is added, then 9% of pay over the threshold comes off (6% for a postgraduate loan), plus any overpayment. That carries on until the balance is cleared or the write-off date arrives, when whatever is left is cancelled.

In the worked example, a Plan 2 loan of £45,000 on a £32,000 salary rising 3.5% a year, first due in April 2022, repays £25,084 in total and £85,693 is written off in April 2052. Paying £200 a month on top clears it in July 2047, with £66,949 repaid in all.

Repayment thresholds

• For 2026/27: Plan 1 £26,900, Plan 2 £29,385, Plan 4 £33,795, Plan 5 £25,000 and postgraduate £21,000 a year. Repayments are worked out on the same pay as National Insurance, so salary sacrifice lowers them.
• From April 2027 the Plan 1, Plan 4 and Plan 5 thresholds rise each April with the RPI you enter. Plan 2’s stays where it is until April 2030 and rises with RPI after. The postgraduate threshold has been the same since 2016 and is held there.

Interest

• Plan 1 and Plan 4: the lower of RPI and Bank Rate plus 1%. From September 2026 that’s 4.1%, as RPI is below 4.75%.
• Plan 2: RPI for anyone earning £29,385 or less, rising in a straight line to RPI plus 3% at £52,885, and the full rate while studying and until repayments are due. From September 2026 that runs from 4.1% to 7.1%, capped at 6%.
• Plan 5: RPI only, 4.1% from September 2026.
• Postgraduate: RPI plus 3%, which would be 7.1%, capped at 6% from September 2026.
• The rates are reset every September from RPI for the year to March. From September 2027 the calculator uses the RPI you enter, and Bank Rate for Plans 1 and 4. The 6% cap is only announced to August 2027, so it isn’t carried on; the government can cap rates again when they rise above market rates.

Assumptions

• Pay comes through PAYE, rises by the same share each April, and never stops for a career break, part-time work or time abroad.
• Interest is added monthly. The Student Loans Company works it out daily, which moves the figures by pennies.
• Today’s money divides each payment by the rise in RPI between now and when it’s paid.
• The balance is written off in the April 25 years (Plan 1), 30 years (Plan 2 and postgraduate) or 40 years (Plan 5) after repayments were first due. Older Plan 1 and Plan 4 loans go at 65 instead, taken as the April of that year. Death and permanent disability also cancel a loan; neither is modelled.

Repayments are 9% of pay over the threshold, whatever the balance. A bigger or smaller balance changes how long they run, not how much comes off each payslip. Once the write-off date arrives, what’s left is cancelled.

So for a loan that won’t be cleared in time, overpaying swaps money that would have been cancelled for money paid now. In the worked example, compulsory repayments come to £25,084 and £85,693 is written off. Adding £200 a month clears the loan in July 2047, but the total repaid rises to £66,949, £41,865 more.

It turns the other way for someone who would clear the loan anyway. On a £60,000 salary with the same balance the loan is cleared before the write-off, and the same overpayment lowers the total by £18,665, because less interest builds up. Between the two there’s a range where the answer depends on how pay grows, and small changes in assumptions move it.

Totals aren’t the whole picture. Money overpaid can’t be taken back, the rules have changed before and can change again, and a balance that’s cleared stops the deduction from pay. The calculator shows the totals both ways and leaves the weighing to you.

At the Autumn Budget 2025 the government froze the Plan 2 repayment threshold at £29,385 for three years from April 2027, with the interest thresholds (£29,385 and £52,885) frozen alongside it. They’re due to rise with RPI again from April 2030. As pay rises over a frozen threshold, more of it is repaid each year and, above £29,385, more interest is charged.

The freeze applies to borrowers from England. The Welsh Government has said it won’t follow it; the calculator applies it to every Plan 2 loan, so Welsh borrowers will see slightly higher repayments than they’d make.

• Plan 1: English or Welsh students who started before 1 September 2012, and Northern Irish students.
• Plan 2: English students who started between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023, and Welsh students who started on or after 1 September 2012.
• Plan 4: Scottish students.
• Plan 5: English students who started on or after 1 August 2023.
• Postgraduate loan: a master’s or doctoral loan from Student Finance England or Wales.

The plan is shown on your payslip and in your online repayment account.