On Plan 2 earning £35,000 you repay £587.70 a year — about £48.97 a month — because you pay 9% of the £6,530 you earn above the £28,470 threshold. Enter your income and plan below to see your own repayment.
Income + plan → annual & monthly repayment
UK student loan repayments aren't like a normal loan. You don't pay a fixed amount each month — you pay a percentage of what you earn above a threshold, and nothing at all below it. For the main undergraduate plans (1, 2, 4 and 5) the rate is 9%; for a Postgraduate Loan it's 6%. Repayments are collected automatically through PAYE on your payslip, just like Income Tax and National Insurance.
Worked example for the headline figure: on Plan 2 the 2026/27 threshold is £28,470. Earning £35,000, the slice that counts is £35,000 − £28,470 = £6,530. Nine per cent of £6,530 is £587.70 a year, which divided by 12 is about £48.97 a month. A pay rise increases only the repayment on the extra income — never the whole salary.
The annual repayment thresholds for the 2026/27 tax year are:
| Plan | Who it's for | Threshold | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plan 1 | Pre-2012 (England/Wales), NI | £26,065 | 9% |
| Plan 2 | 2012–2023 England/Wales | £28,470 | 9% |
| Plan 4 | Scotland | £32,745 | 9% |
| Plan 5 | From Aug 2023, England | £25,000 | 9% |
| Postgraduate | Master's / doctoral loans | £21,000 | 6% |
The calculator above fills these figures in for your income automatically. The table below shows every plan side by side so you can see how the threshold changes the bill.
| Plan | Annual repayment | Monthly |
|---|---|---|
| — | — | — |
Repayments stop automatically once the loan is cleared, and any balance left after the write-off period (which varies by plan) is cancelled. Source: GOV.UK — repaying your student loan.
On Plan 2 the 2026/27 threshold is £28,470 and you repay 9% of income above it. At £35,000 that's 9% of £6,530 = £587.70 a year, or about £48.97 a month, taken automatically through PAYE.
Plan 1 is £26,065, Plan 2 is £28,470, Plan 4 (Scotland) is £32,745 and Plan 5 is £25,000 — all at 9% of income above the threshold. The Postgraduate Loan threshold is £21,000, repaid at 6%.
Yes, if one of them is a Postgraduate Loan. Someone with a Plan 2 undergraduate loan and a Postgraduate Loan repays 9% above £28,470 plus 6% above £21,000 simultaneously. You never repay two undergraduate plans at the same time.
From the April after you finish or leave your course, and only once your income passes the threshold. If your income drops below it, repayments pause automatically. For official guidance see GOV.UK.
