UK Student Loan Repayment Calculator

Repayments begin the April after you graduate or leave your course, but only once your income exceeds your plan’s threshold. For Plan 2 that is £29,385/year; Plan 5 is £25,000; Plan 1 is £26,900; Plan 4 (Scotland) is £33,795; Postgraduate is £21,000. If you earn below the threshold no repayments are due and the pause does not count against your write-off clock. Earnings from employment are deducted at source by your employer via PAYE.

You repay 9% of everything above your threshold (6% for Postgraduate loans). Nothing more, even if your balance is very large. On Plan 2 at £40,000 salary: 9% × (£40,000 − £29,385) = £955/year or roughly £80/month, deducted automatically by your employer. At £50,000: £1,854/year or £155/month. Income from multiple jobs is combined; if you are self-employed you report via Self Assessment.

Write-off dates: Plan 1: 25 years; Plan 2 and Plan 4: 30 years; Plan 5: 40 years; Postgraduate: 30 years. Cancellation happens automatically and is not taxable income. The OBR estimated (2021) that around 50% of Plan 2 graduates would never fully repay. For those borrowers the loan functions closer to a graduate tax than a conventional debt, capped by the write-off.

Plan 2: RPI + 0–3% sliding scale (RPI only below £29,385; RPI+3% above £52,884; sliding in between). Plan 5: RPI only, no surcharge. Plan 1 & Plan 4: the lower of RPI or Bank Rate + 1%. Currently Bank Rate is 4.25%, so the cap is 5.25%; RPI is lower, so Plan 1/4 interest follows RPI. Postgraduate: RPI + 3% always. RPI is measured each March and applied from the following September.

For most Plan 2 and Plan 5 borrowers the answer is no. If your projection shows write-off before full repayment, every voluntary pound sent to the Student Loans Company is money you would never have been required to repay anyway: you are effectively giving money to the government. For Plan 1 borrowers with high, stable incomes who are certain to repay in full, overpaying saves interest. Use the scenario comparison tool to model your specific situation before making any voluntary payments.

Plan 1: pre-2012 England/Wales students and most Scottish/NI borrowers. Lowest interest (capped), shortest write-off. Plan 2: England/Wales 2012– 2023, income-linked interest surcharge, 30-year write-off. Plan 4: Scotland, same interest as Plan 1 but 30-year write-off. Plan 5: England/Wales from 2023, RPI-only interest (no surcharge) but 40-year write-off and lower threshold; graduates pay for longer but without the income surcharge. Postgraduate: covers Masters and Doctoral loans for all UK nations; always RPI+3%.

If your income-contingent repayment is less than interest accruing that year, the unpaid interest is added to your balance. On Plan 2 with a £50,000 balance and £30,000 salary: interest might be ~£2,500/year but your repayment only ~£72, so the balance grows by ~£2,428. This is normal for early careers. As your salary rises, repayments eventually exceed interest and the balance falls. Because of the write-off clause, a growing balance is not automatically a financial problem. Use the calculator to see when (and whether) your balance peaks and turns.

Most calculators ask you to type in an RPI assumption (e.g., 3%) and hold it constant for 30 years. This calculator instead derives forward RPI year-by-year from UK government bond market prices (specifically the gap between standard and inflation-protected government bonds at each maturity), which directly reflects what professional investors are betting on for each future year. Salary growth is anchored to ONS ASHE median earnings by industry sector, with convergence to the OBR’s long-run real wage forecast. Future repayments are adjusted for the time value of money to show present value, using the same IFS methodology used to value the student loan book on the public balance sheet.

To calculate student loan repayments: (1) identify your plan (Plan 1, 2, 4, 5 or Postgraduate); (2) find your current balance on the Student Loans Company portal at slc.co.uk; (3) enter your industry and salary. This student loan repayment calculator then projects your income-contingent repayments year by year (9% of income above your threshold, or 6% for Postgraduate) using bond market inflation forecasts and ONS salary data to give a realistic, not generic, projection.

Whether to repay your student loan early depends on one question: will you clear the balance before write-off? For most Plan 2 and Plan 5 borrowers, the answer is no, meaning voluntary repayments send money to the government you were never required to pay. If your projection shows a remaining balance at write-off, do not overpay. If you are clearly on track to clear the balance early, repaying early saves interest. Plan 1 borrowers (lower, capped interest) are more likely to benefit from early repayment. Model your own situation with the scenario comparison tool rather than relying on rules of thumb. Read the full guide: Should I repay my student loan?

Total student loan repayments depend on your plan, balance, salary trajectory, and inflation over the repayment period. The Office for Budget Responsibility estimates around 50% of Plan 2 graduates never repay in full; their remaining balance is written off tax-free at 30 years. The average Plan 2 borrower repays significantly less than their headline balance in real terms. Enter your balance, industry and salary in our student loan repayment calculator to see your specific total, the present value, and the implied government subsidy.