How student loan repayments work
A Plan 2 graduate on £35,000 repays about £42.11 a month, and none of it counts as tax.
It is taken by your employer through payroll, but it is a debt repayment, which is why the calculator shows it as its own line. The amount depends on your pay. It does not depend on how much you owe.
Thresholds and rates
You repay a percentage of everything above a yearly threshold, and nothing below it.
| Loan | Threshold a year | Rate |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | 9% |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | 9% |
| Plan 4 | £33,795 | 9% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | 9% |
| Postgraduate loan | £21,000 | 6% |
£35,000 on Plan 2
The threshold is £29,385. You repay 9% of the £5,615 above it. That is £505.35 a year.
Which plan you are on
It comes down to where and when you started your course.
- Plan 1: England or Wales before September 2012, or Northern Ireland.
- Plan 2: England or Wales, September 2012 to July 2023.
- Plan 4: Scotland.
- Plan 5: England, from August 2023.
- Postgraduate loan: a master's or doctoral loan, repaid on top of any other plan.
Your plan is shown in your Student Loans Company online account and on your statements.
More than one loan
If you hold two undergraduate plans, you repay 9% of your pay above the lower of the two thresholds, not both. A postgraduate loan works differently. It is repaid at the same time as your other plan, so you pay 6% above £21,000 for it and 9% above your other threshold for the rest.
Quiet months, bonus months, two jobs
Repayments are checked against each pay period. Say you are on Plan 2 and paid £2,000 a month, which is under the threshold. A £5,000 bonus in March makes that month's pay £7,000, and about £409 is taken, even though your year as a whole is still under it. You can ask for that back after the tax year ends. Each job is judged alone as well, so with two part time jobs you repay only from the one that pays you over the threshold, even if your combined pay is well above it.
When the debt ends
Whatever is left is written off. For Plan 1 loans taken out since September 2006, that is 25 years after the April you were first due to repay. For Plan 2, 30 years. For Plan 5, 40 years. Postgraduate loans from England and Wales also run for 30. Plan 4 loans taken out since August 2007 run for 30 years too. Older Plan 1 and Plan 4 loans follow different rules, and an old Plan 1 loan is written off when you turn 65.
To see your take home after repayments, add your plan on the calculator.
Keep reading
How UK income tax worksNational Insurance explainedHow a pension changes your take home payThe £100,000 tax trapHow UK tax codes work