UK Student Loan Repayment Calculator

UK student loan repayments are based on how much you earn, not how much you originally borrowed, which can make them confusing to plan around, especially when comparing offers or negotiating a pay rise. This calculator works out your monthly and annual student loan repayment from your salary and repayment plan, and compares what you would owe under each of the different plans at the same salary.

How to use the student loan repayment calculator

Enter your annual salary before tax, and select your repayment plan. If you are not sure which plan applies to you, this mainly depends on where and when you started your course; check your student loan account on GOV.UK if you are unsure. The calculator shows your monthly and annual repayment, your plan's threshold and rate, and how your repayment compares across all the different plans at the same salary.

How the calculation works

Each student loan plan has its own annual income threshold and repayment rate. You repay a set percentage, 9% for Plan 1, 2, 4 and 5, or 6% for a Postgraduate Loan, of whatever your income is above that threshold, not on your income as a whole. If your income is at or below the threshold, you repay nothing at all for that period. In practice, this is worked out and deducted automatically each pay period by your employer through PAYE, alongside your Income Tax and National Insurance, based on that period's earnings rather than your full annual salary.

Worked example

On a £32,000 salary on Plan 2, with a threshold of £28,470, your income above the threshold is £32,000 − £28,470 = £3,530. At 9%, that gives an annual repayment of £317.70, or around £26.48 a month. On the same £32,000 salary but on Plan 1, with its lower threshold, the repayment would be higher, illustrating how much the choice of plan affects what graduates actually repay at the same salary.

Comparing all the plans at the same £32,000 salary shows the range clearly: Plan 1 repays around £44.51 a month, Plan 2 around £26.47 a month, Plan 4 (Scotland) repays nothing at this salary since it falls below the Plan 4 threshold, Plan 5 repays around £52.50 a month, and a Postgraduate Loan repays around £55.00 a month. Someone with both an undergraduate and a postgraduate loan repays both amounts simultaneously, since they are calculated and deducted separately.

Does interest make a difference?

Yes, interest accrues on your outstanding student loan balance the whole time you owe money, at a rate that depends on your plan and, for some plans, your income. This does not affect your monthly repayment amount, which is set purely by your salary and plan as described above, but it does affect how quickly, or whether, your balance actually reduces over time. For many middle-income graduates on Plan 2 or Plan 5 in particular, interest can accrue faster than the fixed percentage of income being repaid each month, meaning the balance can grow rather than shrink for a period, even while repayments are being made consistently. Since the loan is written off after a set number of years regardless of the remaining balance, this matters less for lifetime cost than it might for a conventional loan, but it is worth understanding rather than being surprised by.

Does a student loan affect a mortgage application?

Many graduates worry about this when planning to buy a home. A UK student loan does not appear on your credit file as a debt in the way a personal loan or credit card would, so it does not directly affect your credit score. However, mortgage lenders do generally take your monthly student loan repayment into account as part of their affordability assessment, since it reduces the disposable income available for a mortgage payment, in a similar way to other regular deductions from your salary. This means it can influence how much a lender is willing to offer, even though it is not treated as a conventional debt.

Common mistakes to avoid

A common mistake is assuming a higher salary always means a higher student loan repayment, without checking which plan applies, since Plan 1's lower threshold means someone on Plan 1 can repay more than someone on Plan 5 at the same salary. Another is confusing your student loan repayment with your income tax, since although both are deducted through PAYE, they are calculated completely separately and appear as separate lines on a payslip.

It is also worth remembering that a growing salary can push more of your income above the threshold, but the loan is written off after a set number of years regardless of the outstanding balance, so constantly overpaying is not automatically the best financial choice for every graduate.

Related calculators

Our take-home pay calculator includes student loan repayments alongside Income Tax and National Insurance to show your full net pay, and our mortgage affordability calculator factors in existing monthly commitments when estimating how much you could borrow. If you are planning university costs before you start, our student budget calculator helps you plan your income and outgoings while studying, and our salary negotiation calculator can help you weigh up a job offer once you graduate. Our UK Income Tax guide covers how tax and student loan deductions sit alongside each other on a payslip.