Answer four quick questions about your course and we’ll tell you whether you’re on Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4, Plan 5 or a Postgraduate Loan — plus the 2026/27 threshold, the repayment rate, and what it takes off your pay.
Last updated for the 2026/27 tax year · How we calculate
Four questions
Your plan
Pick your country, course type and start date and we'll show the repayment plan you're on, with the 2026/27 threshold and rate.
Your plan isn’t something you choose. It’s set by where you lived when you applied for funding, what kind of course you took, and when that course started. The plan decides two numbers: the salary threshold you start repaying at, and the percentage you pay on anything above it. Here are the 2026/27 figures.
Plan 1
Plan 2
Plan 4
Plan 5
Postgraduate Loan
| Plan | Threshold (2026/27) | Rate above threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 a year | 9% |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 a year | 9% |
| Plan 4 | £33,795 a year | 9% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 a year | 9% |
| Postgraduate Loan | £21,000 a year | 6% |
Not while you’re studying. Repayments begin in the April after you finish or leave your course, and even then only once you earn above your plan’s threshold. If you graduate in the summer of 2026, the earliest you could be due to repay is April 2027 — and if your starting salary is below the threshold, you pay nothing at all.
Once you are due to repay, deductions come straight out of your pay through PAYE, the same way Income Tax and National Insurance do. Your payslip shows them as a separate line. They are worked out on each pay period rather than the year as a whole, so a bonus month can trigger a repayment even if your annual salary sits below the threshold.
You only repay a percentage of the pay above your threshold, never the whole salary. On Plan 2 in 2026/27, with a threshold of £29,385, a £35,000 salary means 9% of about £5,615 — roughly £42 a month. On Plan 5, with its lower £25,000 threshold, the same salary repays more.
The take-home pay calculator shows the exact figure alongside tax, National Insurance and pension, so you can see what actually lands in your account.
A Postgraduate Loan doesn’t replace your undergraduate plan — it sits on top of it. If you did a bachelor’s in England from 2018 and then a master’s, you repay Plan 2 at 9% above £29,385 and the Postgraduate Loan at 6% above £21,000 at the same time. That combined 15% marginal deduction is the single most common surprise on a graduate payslip, so it’s worth modelling before you accept an offer.
You never repay two undergraduate plans at once. If you somehow have loans on more than one undergraduate plan, the Student Loans Company collects against a single plan for you.
The definitive answer is in your online student loan account, which lists the plan type against every loan you hold. Your annual statement from the Student Loans Company shows it too, and if you’re already repaying, your payslip deduction line often names the plan.
Sign in to your student loan account on GOV.UK to check it directly. Thresholds and rates on this page follow the Student Loans Company figures for the 2026/27 tax year — see our methodology for sources.
Student loans
The easiest way to find your student loan plan is by logging into your Student Loans Company (SLC) account or checking your repayment details. Your plan depends on where you lived when you applied for student finance and when you started your course. The most common plans are Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4, Plan 5 and Postgraduate Loans, each with different repayment thresholds and rules.
10 Aug 2026
Plan 5 is the newer English undergraduate student loan plan for newer starters. Plan 2 is the older English undergraduate plan. In 2026/27, both repay at 9% above the threshold, but Plan 2 starts at £29,385 and Plan 5 starts at £25,000, so Plan 5 repayments usually begin sooner.
8 Aug 2026
Yes. A UK Postgraduate Loan can reduce your take-home pay because repayments are taken from salary through PAYE at 6% of earnings above £21,000 in 2026/27. It does not reduce your gross salary, tax band or National Insurance rate, but it does lower the amount you receive after deductions.
8 Aug 2026
A Plan 5 student loan is a UK student loan repayment plan used for some newer undergraduate borrowers in England. In 2026/27, you repay 9% of earnings above £25,000. Repayments usually come through PAYE, so the amount taken depends on your income, not the size of your loan balance.
8 Aug 2026
Not everyone will pay off their UK student loan in full. Whether you repay the entire balance depends on your repayment plan, salary, career earnings and how long you're required to make repayments. If you don't repay the full amount before your loan's write-off date, the remaining balance is usually cancelled, provided you meet the terms of your loan.
11 Jul 2026
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