UK student loan repayment thresholds 2026/27
All five repayment plans, the current thresholds, and exactly how much comes off your pay — with worked examples. Updated for the 2026/27 tax year.
UK student loan repayments confuse almost everyone, because they behave nothing like normal debt. You don't repay a fixed amount, and the interest rate barely matters for most people. What matters is your plan, its threshold, and the fact that you only repay a percentage of what you earn above that threshold — never on the balance itself. It works far more like a graduate tax.
The 2026/27 thresholds, all five plans
| Plan | Threshold (2026/27) | Rate above threshold |
|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | £26,900 | 9% |
| Plan 2 | £29,385 | 9% |
| Plan 4 (Scotland) | £33,795 | 9% |
| Plan 5 | £25,000 | 9% |
| Postgraduate | £21,000 | 6% |
You repay only on income above your threshold. Earn below it and you repay nothing that period, no matter how much you owe.
Which plan am I on?
- Plan 1 — English/Welsh students who started before September 2012, or Northern Irish students.
- Plan 2 — English/Welsh students who started an undergraduate course between September 2012 and July 2023. This is the most common plan.
- Plan 4 — Scottish students.
- Plan 5 — English students who started from September 2023 onwards.
- Postgraduate Loan — Master's/doctoral loans. Repaid on top of an undergraduate plan if you have both.
Hold an undergraduate loan and a Postgraduate Loan and they stack: 9% above your undergraduate threshold plus 6% above the £21,000 postgraduate threshold. That can mean 15% of income across the overlapping band — worth knowing before it appears on your payslip.
Worked example: Plan 2 on £35,000
− plan 2 threshold ........ £29,385
──────────────────────────
income above threshold .... £5,615
× 9% .....................
student loan repayment .... £505 / year
........................... ≈ £42 / month
Notice how gentle that is — despite a £35,000 salary, the repayment is only £505 a year, because it's 9% of the £5,615 above the threshold, not 9% of the whole salary. This is the single most misunderstood thing about student loans.
How repayments hit variable pay
For employees, repayments come out through PAYE, and — this catches shift workers out — they're assessed per pay period, not just annually. The Plan 2 threshold works out to about £2,449 a month. So a single busy month where your pay crosses that monthly figure can trigger a deduction, even if your annual income is modest. A quiet month below it triggers nothing.
Usually no. Most Plan 2 and Plan 5 borrowers never repay in full before the loan is written off (30 and 40 years respectively). Voluntary overpayments simply hand over money that would otherwise have been cancelled. Overpaying only helps high earners on track to clear the balance well before write-off. Model your own trajectory before deciding — and this is a point to discuss with a qualified adviser, not take as a rule.
See it in your take-home automatically
Logifi factors your student loan plan into every take-home calculation, using the current 2026/27 thresholds for all five plans. Set your plan once and every shift and payslip reflects the real deduction — alongside Income Tax, National Insurance and pension — so the take-home figure you budget with is the one that actually lands.
Know your real take-home, loan included
All five UK student loan plans built in. Free, offline, no account or tracking.
Get Logifi — FreeThis guide is general information, not financial advice. Thresholds are for the UK 2026/27 tax year as confirmed by HMRC and the Department for Education, and may change. Plan 1 and Plan 4 thresholds are set separately for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Figures are illustrative. For advice specific to your circumstances, speak to a qualified adviser. Logifi provides estimates for planning only.