Student loan plans 1, 2, 4, 5 compared
Published 2026-08-29, checked against current rates 2026-08-28.
There are five UK student loan plans, and which one you repay under depends on where you studied and when your course started, not on how much you borrowed. Every undergraduate plan takes 9% of income above its own threshold; a postgraduate loan takes 6% above a lower one. That single difference in thresholds is why the same salary repays very different amounts: on the 2026/27 thresholds (checked 2026-08-28), someone earning £35,000 repays £505 a year on Plan 2 but £900 on Plan 5, a difference of £395 a year for identical pay. Repayments are taken through payroll like tax, stop automatically when your income falls below the threshold, and any balance left at the end of the term is written off.
Pick your plan and salary to see the monthly repayment, and what your take-home pay looks like with it included.
Calculate your repaymentWhich student loan plan am I on?
- Plan 1. England or Wales, course started before 1 September 2012. Also Northern Ireland students, including postgraduates.
- Plan 2. England or Wales, course started between 1 September 2012 and 31 July 2023.
- Plan 4. Scotland, loans through the Student Awards Agency Scotland, including Scottish postgraduates.
- Plan 5. England, course started on or after 1 August 2023. Repayments began in April 2026.
- Postgraduate Loan. A master's or doctoral loan in England or Wales. It runs alongside an undergraduate plan, so many people repay both at once.
If you are unsure, your online student loan account states the plan, and so does your payslip in most payroll systems. Getting it wrong matters, because an employer told the wrong plan deducts the wrong amount.
What each plan costs at your salary
| Plan | Threshold | Rate | £28,000 | £35,000 | £45,000 | £60,000 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | 9% | £99 | £729 | £1,629 | £2,979 |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | 9% | £0 | £505 | £1,405 | £2,755 |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | £33,795 | 9% | £0 | £108 | £1,008 | £2,358 |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | 9% | £270 | £900 | £1,800 | £3,150 |
| Postgraduate Loan | £21,000 | 6% | £420 | £840 | £1,440 | £2,340 |
Annual figures. Divide by twelve for the monthly deduction: Plan 2 at £35,000 is £42.11 a month.
Why does Plan 5 cost more than Plan 2?
Because its threshold is lower. Plan 5 starts taking 9% from £25,000, while Plan 2 waits until £29,385. Every pound of that £4,385 gap is income a Plan 5 borrower repays on and a Plan 2 borrower does not, which is worth £395 a year to anyone earning above both thresholds. Plan 5 also runs for 40 years rather than 30 before any balance is written off. A newer graduate on the same salary as an older one therefore repays more per month and for longer.
When is a student loan written off?
Any balance outstanding at the end of the term is cancelled, and the clock runs from the April you first became due to repay, not from when you graduated.
| Plan | Written off |
|---|---|
| Plan 1 | 25 years after the April you were first due to repay, for loans paid on or after 1 September 2006. Earlier loans are written off at 65. |
| Plan 2 | 30 years after the April you were first due to repay |
| Plan 4 | 30 years, for loans paid on or after 1 August 2007. Earlier loans end at 65 or after 30 years, whichever comes first. |
| Plan 5 | 40 years after the April you were first due to repay |
| Postgraduate Loan | 30 years for England and Wales. Northern Ireland postgraduate loans follow Plan 1, Scottish ones follow Plan 4. |
Should I pay it off early?
For many people the answer is no, and the reason is the write-off. A repayment is 9% of income above a threshold regardless of the balance, so unless you are on track to clear the loan before the term ends, overpaying hands over money that would have been cancelled. Early repayment saves interest only for borrowers likely to repay in full, typically high earners on Plan 1 or Plan 2 with modest balances. This is general information rather than advice, and the answer depends on your balance, your interest rate and your expected earnings.
Does a student loan reduce my tax?
No. The repayment comes out of pay that has already been taxed, so it reduces take-home pay without reducing your tax bill. It also stacks with everything else, which is why a pay rise for a graduate with two loans can lose 40% to income tax, 2% to National Insurance and 15% to loan repayments before anything reaches the bank. See the take-home calculation guide for where each deduction sits in the order.
Sources
- gov.uk: repaying your student loan, what you pay
- gov.uk: when your student loan gets written off or cancelled
- HMRC: rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
Every figure on this page is computed from those tables at build time, checked 2026-08-28. If a number here ever disagrees with gov.uk, gov.uk is right and this is a bug worth telling us about. See our corrections policy.
Related guides
How to calculate take-home pay by hand
Five steps, in the order payroll does them. Follow it once and every payslip you ever get will make sense.
How to read your payslip, line by line
Gross, taxable pay, NI letter, YTD columns. What each one means and the four checks that catch a payroll error early.
All 10 guides are listed on the guides index, and every calculator on the home page.