UK Student Loan Calculator 2026/27 — Plans, Pay and Forecasts

The UK Student Loan Calculator→ is designed to answer two different questions:

1. What might be deducted from my pay this period or this year?
2. How might my balance and repayments change under different income paths?

Those questions use related information but should not be confused. A payroll deduction is based mainly on the repayment plan, pay period and income above the relevant threshold. A long-term forecast also needs the starting balance, interest assumptions, future earnings, inflation, repayment term and possible write-off date. The fact that a calculator shows a large balance does not prove that you will repay it in full, and a small current deduction does not prove that the loan will be written off.

The existing UK student-loan repayment guide explains the plan rules and published thresholds. The student-loan versus investing guide addresses the separate decision about using spare cash. This page focuses on how to prepare, interpret and stress-test the calculator inputs.

For 2026/27, GOV.UK publishes different thresholds and repayment rates for Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4, Plan 5 and Postgraduate Loans. Use the official deduction tables for the correct pay frequency and plan. Do not copy a threshold from a calculator for a different tax year.

What a student loan calculator can and cannot show

A useful calculator separates four layers:

Use the first layer to understand take-home pay. Use the second to budget. Use the third to understand whether the balance is likely to be cleared before write-off. Use the fourth to compare choices, but keep investment risk, emergency savings and other debt outside the loan calculation unless the tool explicitly models them.

Step 1: identify the correct plan

The plan is not chosen by the amount you borrowed or the university you attended alone. It can depend on when and where you studied, the type of course, the loan product and any postgraduate borrowing. GOV.UK and the Student Loans Company provide the authoritative record.

Common repayment categories include Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4, Plan 5 and Postgraduate Loans. A borrower can have more than one plan. A postgraduate loan is not simply an alternative label for Plan 2; it has a separate repayment rate and threshold. Enter each plan separately if the calculator supports it.

If you are unsure, check:

• your Student Loans Company online account;
• letters or statements showing the loan type;
• the plan indicator on your payslip or payroll record;
• your employer’s student-loan notice;
• the official terms and conditions for the year in which you borrowed.

Do not infer the plan from a colleague’s deduction or from a balance shown on an old statement. If the employer has the wrong plan, contact payroll and the Student Loans Company; changing a calculator input does not correct the payroll instruction.

Step 2: use the right income measure

For an employee, the payroll deduction is usually based on earnings in the pay period above the plan threshold. GOV.UK says student-loan repayments are taken from salary at the same time as tax and National Insurance when the borrower is above the relevant minimum amount. The calculation is not based on the outstanding balance alone.

Include the income that the official plan rules count. Depending on the situation, that may include salary, bonus, overtime, commission, statutory pay and other earnings. A pension contribution or salary sacrifice can affect the earnings figure used in payroll, but the exact treatment depends on the arrangement and the relevant rules. The UK salary-sacrifice calculator guide→ explains why the student-loan impact should be modelled separately.

Do not use gross household income for an ordinary employee calculation. A partner’s salary does not normally create a repayment on your payroll record. If you are self-employed, complete Self Assessment, have overseas income or combine employment and self-employment, the annual calculation can be different from the deduction from one payslip.

Step 3: select pay frequency and tax year

Payroll tables are organised by pay frequency. A monthly employee is not assessed by simply dividing an annual threshold by twelve and rounding however they choose. Weekly, fortnightly, four-weekly and monthly pay each have published table values and rounding rules.

This matters most when pay is close to the threshold or varies during the year. A bonus paid in one month can produce a larger deduction in that pay period even if the annual income forecast has not changed. A worker paid weekly may see deductions start, stop or vary as weekly income changes.

Set the tax year explicitly. The 2026/27 tax year runs from 6 April 2026 to 5 April 2027. A calculator that carries a 2025/26 threshold into 2026/27 can be wrong even when the plan and salary are correct. If you are comparing several years, preserve each year’s official threshold, repayment rate and interest assumption in a separate scenario.

Step 4: understand the deduction formula

At a high level, the payroll calculation is based on the income above the relevant plan threshold multiplied by the plan’s published repayment rate. Postgraduate Loans use a different rate from the main undergraduate plans. The official tables apply the detailed pay-period and rounding rules.

For an illustrative annual scenario only:

estimated annual repayment = repayment rate × (counted annual income − plan threshold)

If counted income is below the threshold, the result is normally zero for that plan for that period. If income is above the threshold, only the amount above the threshold is used, not the whole salary. A calculator should show the threshold slice and rate so the user can see which part of the income created the repayment.

Do not use the formula to reproduce a payslip exactly when the official payroll table, rounding, irregular pay or multiple plans applies. Treat the annual formula as a reasonableness check, not a replacement for the deduction table.

Step 5: add postgraduate borrowing correctly

If you have a postgraduate loan as well as an undergraduate plan, the deductions can stack. The calculator should display separate lines for the main plan and the postgraduate loan rather than one blended rate. A pay rise can therefore increase the total deduction through more than one repayment route.

Check whether the postgraduate loan is actually present on the Student Loans Company record and whether your employer has been instructed to deduct it. If the payslip shows one deduction but your account expects another, keep the payslip and ask the relevant authority to reconcile it. Do not make a voluntary repayment to one loan type assuming it will remove the payroll deduction from the other.

Step 6: model changing income

A single salary input is convenient but often unrealistic. Build at least three income paths:

• steady income — the same real or nominal salary each year;
• career progression — scheduled pay rises, promotions or bonuses;
• interrupted income — parental leave, illness, unemployment, part-time work or a career break.

Repayments respond to income, so a career break may reduce or stop the deduction without reducing the loan balance in the same way. A later pay rise can restart the deduction. Include periods of zero or reduced earnings rather than averaging them out of existence.

If you receive a one-off bonus, enter it in the pay period when it is paid as well as in the annual scenario. This helps explain why the payslip deduction may appear high even though the final annual repayment is not simply a fixed percentage of salary.

Multiple jobs and self-employment

For more than one employment, payroll deductions may be made only from jobs whose pay exceeds the relevant threshold under the payroll rules. GOV.UK gives examples showing that income from separate jobs is not always combined in the same way as a Self Assessment calculation. Enter each job separately when the calculator supports it.

If you are both employed and self-employed, the annual repayment can be calculated using combined income through Self Assessment, with amounts already deducted from salary taken into account. A payroll-only calculator cannot establish the final annual liability. Label the result as “employment deduction” rather than “total yearly repayment” unless all income sources are included.

Pension income can also matter in the annual rules. GOV.UK says total annual income can include workplace, private and State Pension income for repayment purposes in relevant circumstances. Do not assume that reaching pension age automatically ends every repayment obligation.

Balance forecasts and interest

The current repayment is not the same as the balance reduction. A balance forecast needs an interest assumption, the opening balance, the annual repayment, the timing of payments and any cancellation or write-off rule. Interest can be added while repayments are being made, so the balance may grow in a year even when deductions appear on payslips.

Do not use the balance as a mortgage-style debt target without checking the plan terms. For some borrowers, the balance is unlikely to be cleared before write-off; for others, higher earnings may make full repayment more likely. The same outstanding balance can lead to different economic outcomes for two people with different income paths.

Run a low-income, central-income and high-income scenario. Then change the interest assumption within the range allowed by the official terms rather than selecting a market return or a personal guess. Keep the write-off date visible and verify whether the relevant plan, age, disability, death or other cancellation rule applies.

Salary sacrifice, pensions and optional overpayments

Salary sacrifice or pension contributions can change current cash pay and possibly the income used for payroll deductions. That can produce a lower student-loan deduction today, but it does not automatically make the overall decision better. The student-loan versus investing guide discusses the broader choice.

An optional overpayment is not the same as a payroll deduction. It may reduce the balance or interest in a way that matters only if you would otherwise repay the loan in full. If the loan would be written off, overpaying can produce little or no financial benefit while reducing liquidity. If you are close to clearing the balance, an overpayment could shorten the repayment period, but check the official account and payment instructions first.

The calculator should show:

• compulsory payroll repayments;
• voluntary overpayments;
• interest added;
• projected balance;
• possible write-off date;
• cash retained for emergencies, pension or investment.

Do not subtract an optional overpayment from compulsory repayment as if payroll will stop. The two actions follow different rules.

International and overseas income

If you leave the UK for more than three months, GOV.UK says you must update your employment details with the Student Loans Company and continue to repay under the relevant overseas threshold if required. Overseas repayment thresholds can differ from UK thresholds. A UK calculator is not an overseas repayment calculator unless it includes the country and current SLC threshold.

Record the country, currency, employment income, exchange-rate assumption and reporting date. If you return to the UK, update the SLC again. An unchanged UK payroll deduction does not prove that overseas obligations are satisfied.

How to check a calculator against your payslip

The first mismatch usually identifies the problem: wrong plan, wrong pay frequency, wrong tax year, a missing postgraduate loan, a bonus month, a second job or a payroll instruction that has not updated. A calculator can reveal the question, but only payroll or SLC can correct the official record.

Common mistakes

Entering the loan balance as the repayment basis

Income-contingent repayments are driven primarily by counted income above the plan threshold. The balance affects a forecast, not the basic payroll formula in the same way.

Using one threshold for every plan

Plan 1, Plan 2, Plan 4, Plan 5 and Postgraduate Loans have different official thresholds and rates. Confirm the plan and tax year.

Ignoring pay frequency

Monthly and weekly payroll use different tables and rounding. An annual estimate is not always the same as adding a rounded monthly estimate.

Combining jobs incorrectly

Payroll and Self Assessment can treat separate income sources differently. Enter each job and identify whether the result is payroll-only or annual total.

Treating a voluntary overpayment as compulsory repayment

An overpayment can affect the balance but does not automatically change the payroll instruction or cancel future deductions.

Assuming a write-off is guaranteed without checking the plan

Write-off or cancellation conditions are plan-specific and can depend on time, age, disability, death or other terms. Use the official plan guidance.

Frequently Asked Questions

Official sources

This guide uses official GOV.UK and Student Loans Company sources for plan thresholds, deduction tables, payroll, postgraduate loans, write-off rules, multiple income and 2026/27 terms:

• How much you repay
• Student and postgraduate loan deduction tables 2026 to 2027
• Rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027
• Repaying your student loan: how to repay
• Student loans terms and conditions 2026 to 2027
• When student loans are written off or cancelled
• Student Loans Company repayment collection