Calculate the real cost of your UK student loan.
Will you pay it off, or will it be written off? See how your salary and overpayments could change the answer.
How it works
Enter your balance, plan and salary below. Repayments follow your plan's income threshold and rate. The projection applies your assumptions about future earnings, interest and thresholds until repayment or write-off.
Compare scenarios and inspect the yearly schedule. Future rates and income are uncertain, so use the result as an estimate.
Results
Press Calculate in the input panel to receive your results.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are a student with a plan 1, 2, 4, 5 or postgraduate student loan, you only make repayments if your pre-tax salary is above the repayment threshold. Your repayment totals 9% of your earnings above the threshold on plan 1, 2, 4 or 5 or 6% of your earnings above the threshold if you are on a postgraduate plan.
This calculator uses the inputs about your student loan debt and a number of assumptions to calculate your repayments each year. The calculator adjusts for future increases in your income, changes to the thresholds and the interest that accrues on your loan.
- The April after you leave your course
- The April 4 years after the course started, if you’re studying part-time
- You stop working
- Your income goes below the threshold
- You repay your student loan balance
- Your student loan balance is written off
- An English or Welsh student who started an undergraduate course anywhere in the UK before 1 September 2012
- A Northern Irish student who started an undergraduate or postgraduate course anywhere in the UK on or after 1 September 1998. Northern Ireland still uses Plan 1 loans.
- An EU student who started an undergraduate course in England or Wales on or after 1 September 1998, but before 1 September 2012
- An EU student who started an undergraduate or postgraduate course in Northern Ireland on or after 1 September 1998
Support this project
Free to use. Independently built and maintained.
Referenced by
- Imperial College London
- University of Bath · IPR blog
- Standard Life
- Information Visualization
- Confused.com
- thinkmoney
- Student Beans
- UKPersonalFinance Wiki
- Study International
- Student Saviour
- Treasury Committee written evidence
- Progress with Jess · Medical careers blog
- List of Freeware
References, not affiliations or endorsements.
Reference details
- Imperial College London
Listed in its 2026 student-finance resources.
- University of Bath · IPR blog
Authors’ tuition-fee analysis, originally published in The Conversation. The authors’ views are not the University’s position.
- Standard Life
Used in research on student loans and retirement savings.
- Information Visualization
Cited in research on visualisation and early-career decisions.
- Confused.com
Cited in its student finance report.
- thinkmoney
Linked in its guide to student-loan overpayments.
- Student Beans
Linked in its article on student-loan repayments.
- UKPersonalFinance Wiki
Listed in its student-loan resources.
- Study International
Republished The Conversation’s analysis using the calculator.
- Student Saviour
Recommended in its calculator guide.
- Treasury Committee written evidence
Cited in an individual contributor’s submission to the Committee.
- Progress with Jess · Medical careers blog
Recommended in its guide to student-loan repayment for doctors.
- List of Freeware
Included in a comparison of eight free student-loan calculators.
University of Bath · IPR blog, Study International and Student Beans refer to the same 2022 analysis.
About these estimates
Estimates, not financial advice. Check the assumptions and sources on this page before making a decision.
Limitations
Results may be inaccurate and government policy can change. Do your own research. You use this information at your own risk; we cannot accept liability if things go wrong.