How Much Will I Repay on My Student Loan?

You repay 9% of earnings above your plan threshold, not 9% of your total salary. On a £35,000 salary with a Plan 2 loan, that works out to roughly £49 a month. Plan 5 borrowers on the same salary would pay about £75 a month because the threshold is lower at £25,000. If you earn below your threshold, you pay nothing. Use the calculator above to see your exact figure.

Most graduates never repay in full. Around 80% of Plan 2 borrowers will have some or all of their balance written off after 30 years. Only those on consistently high salaries tend to clear the debt before write off. Plan 5 loans have an even longer 40 year term, making full repayment less likely still.

Your plan depends on when you started university and where you studied. Plan 1 covers anyone who began before September 2012 in England or Wales (and all Scottish borrowers). Plan 2 is for courses that started between 2012 and 2023. Plan 5 applies from August 2023 onwards in England. Use our Plan Finder tool if you're unsure.

Repayments begin the April after you finish or leave your course, but only if your salary is above the threshold for your plan. Plan 2 borrowers start paying once they earn more than £28,470 a year (£2,372 a month) in 2025/26. Plan 5 kicks in at £25,000 a year (£2,083 a month). Below those amounts, you pay nothing.

Most graduates will never clear their loan before it gets written off, so overpaying is usually a bad idea. On Plan 2 the balance is cancelled after 30 years, and on Plan 5 after 40 years. Only borrowers on high salaries who would repay everything anyway stand to save by paying extra. Use our Overpayment Calculator to model your scenario, or read our guide: Is Overpaying Worth It?

Pension contributions lower your repayable income because student loan deductions are worked out after pension is taken off. Somebody earning £35,000 who puts 5% into a pension would have repayments calculated on £33,250 instead. That makes pension saving an efficient way to reduce what you repay. Enter your pension percentage in the calculator above to see the difference.

You must tell the Student Loans Company if you leave the UK for more than three months. Repayments continue based on your overseas income, and the SLC sets a threshold for each country. Interest still builds up while you are abroad. Visit our international guide for details on how different countries are handled.