Repayment threshold: £29,385 / year. You repay 9% of earnings above this.
Plan 2 loans are written off 30 years after your first repayment date. Any remaining balance is cancelled and does not affect your credit score.
Repayment by salary (Plan 2)
| Annual Salary | Monthly Repayment | Annual Repayment |
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How student loan repayments work
Student loan repayments in the UK are taken automatically from your salary through PAYE once you earn above the repayment threshold for your plan type. The repayment is a percentage of your earnings above the threshold, not of your total salary.
The repayment formula
For example, on Plan 2 with a £35,000 salary: (£35,000 - £29,385) x 9% = £505.35 per year, or £42.11 per month.
Which plan am I on?
Your plan depends on which student finance body you applied to and when your course started, not where the university is. You cannot choose it, and if you have more than one loan you can be on more than one plan.
Plan 1: You applied to Student Finance Northern Ireland (undergraduate or postgraduate, any start date), or to Student Finance England or Wales for a course that started before 1 September 2012. Threshold: £26,900.
Plan 2: You applied to Student Finance England for an undergraduate course or PGCE that started between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023, or to Student Finance Wales for one that started on or after 1 September 2012. Higher Education Short Course Loans from Student Finance England are also Plan 2. Threshold: £29,385.
Plan 4: You applied to the Student Awards Agency Scotland (SAAS), for an undergraduate or postgraduate course. Threshold: £33,795.
Plan 5: You applied to Student Finance England for an undergraduate course or PGCE that started on or after 1 August 2023 (Advanced Learner Loans and Lifelong Learning Entitlement finance from that date are Plan 5 too). Threshold: £25,000.
Postgraduate Loan: You took out a postgraduate master's or doctoral loan from Student Finance England or Wales. Threshold: £21,000 at 6% (not 9%). Northern Ireland and Scottish postgraduate loans are on Plan 1 and Plan 4 instead (GOV.UK: Which repayment plan you're on, checked 31 October 2026).
When is my loan written off?
Plan 1: 25 years after the April you were first due to repay (at 65 if your first loan was paid before 1 September 2006). Plan 2: 30 years. Plan 4: 30 years (if your first loan was paid before 1 August 2007, at 65 or 30 years, whichever comes first). Plan 5: 40 years. Postgraduate: 30 years. The write-off is automatic and does not count as income for tax purposes.
Does my student loan affect my credit score?
No. Student loan balances do not appear on your credit file and repayments are not reported to credit agencies. However, the repayment does reduce your take-home pay, which mortgage lenders will factor into affordability assessments.
Worked examples: Plan 2
Each example below was run through the calculator on Plan 2 with a £45,000 balance. The calculator holds salary and interest flat for the whole term and starts repaying this year, so treat the totals as a comparison between scenarios rather than a forecast of your own loan.
£35,000 salary, 4.1% interest
Repayments are 9% of the £5,615 above the £29,385 threshold: £505.35 a year, or £42.11 a month. That is less than the interest being added, so the balance never falls. After 30 years the calculator shows £15,160.50 repaid and the rest written off.
£60,000 salary, 6% interest
Repayments are £229.61 a month, roughly the same as the interest added each year at 6%. The balance barely moves, the loan runs the full 30 years, and the total repaid is £82,660.50 before the remainder is written off.
£80,000 salary, 6% interest
At £379.61 a month the loan is cleared in 16 years, for a total of £70,254.08. That is less than the £60,000 earner pays in the second example. With the same balance and rate, the earner who repays for the full 30 years pays the most in total.
Rules that change the answer
Thresholds and rates for 2026/27
You repay 9% of income over £26,900 on Plan 1, £29,385 on Plan 2, £33,795 on Plan 4 and £25,000 on Plan 5, and 6% over £21,000 on a Postgraduate Loan. Thresholds change every 6 April. Interest is currently 4.1% on Plans 1, 4 and 5 and 6% on Postgraduate Loans. Plan 2 interest depends on income: 4.1% at £29,385 or less, rising to 6% at £52,885 or more (GOV.UK: Repaying your student loan, checked 30 October 2026).
Write-off
Plan 2 loans are written off 30 years after the April you were first due to repay. Plan 1 loans first paid on or after 1 September 2006 are written off after 25 years (same source). Whatever is left at that point is cancelled.
More than one loan
With a Postgraduate Loan and an undergraduate plan, you pay both: 6% over £21,000 and 9% over the lowest undergraduate threshold. With two undergraduate plans and no Postgraduate Loan, you pay 9% over the lowest threshold only (same source). This calculator handles one plan at a time.
Bonus months
Employers check each payslip against the monthly threshold, so a bonus or overtime month can trigger a repayment even if your yearly pay is below the annual threshold. You can ask for a refund after the tax year ends.
Common mistakes
Thinking a bigger balance means bigger repayments. GOV.UK states the amount you owe has no effect on what you repay each year. Only income above the threshold does. The balance only changes how long you pay for.
Overpaying a loan that will be written off. If, as in the first two examples, you are unlikely to clear the balance before write-off, extra payments may only reduce what gets cancelled. GOV.UK itself warns you might not benefit from them.
How this calculator works: it takes 9% (6% for postgraduate) of salary above your plan's threshold, then adds a year of interest at the rate you enter and takes off a year of repayments, until the balance is cleared or the write-off term ends. Thresholds and rates were checked against GOV.UK on 30 October 2026; every source is listed on our methodology page.